It will change the lives of passengers with reduced mobility: the new footbridge at Sète station is inaugurated

The 71-metre-long footbridge spans the tracks of Sète station. Midi Libre – VICTOR GUILLOTEAU

The footbridge spanning the tracks of Sète station was inaugurated on Monday, December 9. This structure, the work on which took almost two years, reinforces the accessibility standards for the platforms of Sète station.

It will change the lives of people with reduced mobility or disabilities who take the train from Sète. The imposing footbridge at Sète station was inaugurated on Monday, December 9, in the presence of elected officials and representatives of the funding partners, namely the State, the Occitanie Region, the Hérault Department, Sète Agglopôle Méditerranée and SNCF Gares & Connections (project manager).

The elected officials of Sète Agglo, the Department and the Occitanie Region cut the ribbon. Midi Libre – VICTOR GUILLOTEAU

Key element of the new accessibility of the station

Cost at €8 million (€3.3 million for Sète Agglo), it now connects the southern forecourt of the city, whose work dates back to 2019, to the future station car park (220 spaces, a pedestrian mall and a bicycle shelter) located to the north of the railway tracks, serving the railway platforms in passing. Equipped with four elevators that can support up to 1000 kg, it is the key element of the new accessibility of the station. Profiled in a bow-string style, the 71-metre long and 4-metre wide structure has large staircases (two passage units), designed to comfortably accommodate the flow of passengers. Sète station now welcomes nearly 2 million travellers per year.

“Link between the north and the south”

The upgrading of the station's underground passage to accessibility standards, the renewal of the platform cladding, furniture and signage, as well as the upgrading of lighting and joinery, accompany this new facility at the heart of the station's multimodal transport hub project. The mayor of Sète, François Commeinhes, speaks of “a real link between our beloved Sète canals leading to the Mediterranean to the south, and the Thau lagoon which is the centre of our urban area to the north. As soon as it is connected to the dedicated transport lane which is emerging along the RD2, this footbridge will represent a new link in the mobility chain which will facilitate travel for residents.”

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Message to preserve Sète station in the long term

In the context of uncertainty linked to the Montpellier-Perpignan New Line (LNMP) project, with Sète station under threat of a significantly reduced TGV rotation, the mayor of Sète and president of Sète Agglo did not hesitate to send a message to the SNCF and the Region, whose representatives were present this Monday.

Jean-Luc Gibelin: “We will have to serve Sète and Agde”

Jean-Luc Gibelin, vice-president of the Occitanie Region delegate for mobility, shares the regional vision on the future service of Sète station.“We are not going to make a commitment today about what the station service will be like in ten years. &A few days before Christmas, that would not be serious. What I am sharing with you is what we have done elsewhere. It is the 40% increase in trains on the Nîmes-Montpellier line after the bypass. It is the work undertaken to obtain the 14 services of the Transversale between Bordeaux and Marseille by regionally balanced trains. This line must continue to stop at Sète systematically. These regional balance trains allow this very important connection. There is a very strong commitment to have an increase in the service by TER, regional balance trains and TGV. It will be necessary to serve Sète and Agde. A work phase is underway, appointments are made, we are in the process. We have not engaged co-financing on this footbridge with a view to not serving the Sète station."

“We, mayors and elected officials of the 14 municipalities of Sète Agglopôle, are mobilized so that this Sète station retains its status as a TGV station in the long term, insists François Commeinhes. And continues to accommodate high-speed trains, compensating for the drop in volume announced by a direct TER link between Sète and Montpellier Sud de France. Which would avoid numerous dissuasive load breaks for travelers to and from Paris. In view of the quality of the infrastructure that we are inaugurating today, it seems to me that it is our collective responsibility to mobilize to preserve its sustainability temporal.”

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