High speed line Angers -Paris : the mistakes always resurface

A twenty years old debate about the opportunity to finance a high speed railway line between Angers and Le Mans resurfaced recently. It was said on the web that Angers city would have to pay more than 3 millions euros for an additionnal line of 4 km linking Sablé-sur-Sarthe to the high speed line Le Mans-Rennes. Three millions euros are 10% of the overall cost of the 4 km line.

Twenty years ago, the Maine-et-Loire politicians refused the Sncf to develop such a railway connection arguing it was not reasonable to pay 10 millions francs (and not euros, and not from Angers'purse) for the development of a line dedicated to the Tgv between Angers and Le Mans which would have allowed to shorten of about 10 mn the travel between Angers and Paris...

At the opposite of the former politicians of the 90's, the present generation thinks that well above the gain in time, what is at stake is the connection of Angers to the European railways net. The fact Angers wish to be connected to the high speed line Rennes-Paris gives an idea of the tremendous mistake of the former politicians generation who thought 20 years ago to their own tranquility instead of the future competitiveness of the Angers province in the XXI century.