What the Heck is the Problem With the Train Line From Loches!?

There has been 64 million euros spent but the passenger numbers have been declining for years. What is it about this line that is causing it?

 

 Loches station, with rail replacement buses parked in front.

Everywhere else in the Region Centre Val de Loire is experiencing a rail revival, but passenger numbers travelling on the Tours-Loches line have diminished by 80 percent, despite the improvements.

In the mid-2010s the line was threatened with closure, but then a big works project in 2021-22 revitalised it. Now, a second round of works, which started in September and are set to continue to March next year, mean that once again, the service is not currently operating while 12 kilometres of track are completely replaced.

 

 Loches station, looking towards Tours.

The work is part of a much bigger Regional programme to save 6 small lines. The one from Tours to Chinon has been a great success, and passenger numbers continue to go up. The line from Tours to Paris via Châteaudun and Vendôme likewise has proved popular, with some stations doubling or tripling passenger numbers. There is clearly an appetite for train travel in the Region.

Meanwhile, even in 2024, a year with no work on the line, the Tours-Loches barely had any passengers. Montbazon, Esvres and Joué-les-Tours, the stations close to the conurbation of Tours, fared better, with passenger numbers in the tens of thousands. But Cormery, Chambourg, Courçay-Tauxigny and Reignac all recorded passenger numbers between 60 and 80% lower than in the past. Even Loches was 20% down.

 

A rural train.

You would think the line has enormous potential, but it is not attracting passengers. The reason is simple. A train ticket is 10 euros, but you can catch the bus and do the same journey in the same time as the train for just 3 euros! Obviously, people catch the bus!! Despite all the work on the line, the journey time has not improved. People are waiting to see what will happen next year when the current work is finished, but they are fairly disillusioned and not holding their breath for an improvement. SNCF has not committed to a reduction in journey time, nor any reduction in ticket price.

The main problem affecting journey time is the number of stops the train makes. For every stop the train loses at least three minutes, whether anyone gets on or off, or not. Just braking to halt at a station, then accelerating out of the station means more time is lost than just the two minutes in the station. 

 

 Tours station.

The other complaint that locals have is that with the current timetable, the first train of the morning into Loches arrives too late to be useful, and the last train leaves too early. It has ever been thus, with the American writer Henry James complaining about this very frustration when he and Edith Wharton were touristing their way through the Loire Valley in the 19th century.  In addition, the line has a reputation for cancellations, delays and travellers can never be sure of reaching their destination. Not the way to wean people away from their cars, or the bus.

At the moment there are six return journeys per day timetabled. The local transport policy is aiming to increase this to 18 per day or even 24 by 2040. But that will require even more work on the line! For instance, at the moment it is a single line, with no passing sections on three quarters of the route.

 

 The train coming in to Cormery on the Loches-Tours line.

Further reading:  Local news item (in French)   https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/centre-val-de-loire/indre-loire/tours/64-millions-d-euros-de-travaux-mais-une-baisse-de-voyageurs-pourquoi-la-ligne-tours-loches-peine-a-convaincre-3263714.html