An emblematic provision of the 2021 climate law, the abolition of domestic flights has now been promulgated when a train journey of less than 2h30 is possible. The measure is the subject of a decree published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette.
“Regular public air transport services for passengers prohibited by II of article L.6412-3 of the Transport Code are those for which a substitute rail link provides, in each direction, a journey of less than two and a half hours (…) ”, specifies the text.
Not all domestic flights of less than 2.5 hours will be cancelled. The decree specifies the scope of the measure and indicates that “the trip must be made between stations that provide services to the same cities as the airports respectively affected. However, when the most important of these two airports, taking into account the average traffic observed in the last seven years, has been served directly by a high-speed rail service, the station taken into account (…) is the one that serves this airport”.
For flights to Roissy, for example, the airport TGV station is used and not a Parisian station. As a result, some cities such as Bordeaux or Nantes are more than 2h30 from the airport, which makes it possible to maintain flights to the capital.
“satisfactory service”
The connection between two stations must also “provide without transferring trains between these stations, several times a day and with a satisfactory service. (…) For this, the frequencies must be sufficient and the schedules adequate, taking into account the needs of passenger transport through this link, particularly in terms of connectivity and intermodality, as well as traffic transfers that the prohibition would cause.” Finally, “the connection must allow more than eight hours of presence in the place during the day, throughout the year”.
It will correspond to the Ministry of Transport, before each aeronautical season, “to carry out an evaluation aimed at determining the potentially affected air links for which there is a satisfactory alternative rail service”.
The decree published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette is valid for three years. A review of its impact will be carried out 24 months after its entry into force.
Source: BFM TV
