The project by the company RiverCat France to offer a river transport system between Issy-les-Moulineaux and Alfortville for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is facing difficulties. Due to a lack of agreement with Haropa Port, the largest European river port for passenger transport, the river shuttles may not be put into service in time for the start of the competition, as reported by Le Parisien on October 23rd. Despite several discussions, no written agreement has yet been reached between RiverCat France and Haropa Port.
Without this agreement, the boats will not be able to connect Issy-les-Moulineaux and Alfortville as planned, starting from next April. Haropa Port is responsible for managing all ports, embankments, and pontoons located within Paris and its surrounding suburbs, as well as issuing the necessary authorizations for the operation of a passenger river transport activity.
RiverCat had approached Haropa Port as early as January 2022 in order to obtain a location in a home port to dock the river shuttles in the evening. It also sought the necessary authorizations for the boarding and disembarking of the expected 100 passengers on board. After several enquiries, an initial agreement was given last September, except for the stop at Invalides, which is already used by another boat-bus service.
RiverCat accepted this situation and asked Haropa Port to find a solution. However, Haropa Port is now asking RiverCat to wait another year and a half before starting discussions. RiverCat is stuck in a deadlock: it has the support of elected officials and future users, as well as the financial capacity, but lacks docking authorizations.
In response to this situation, the company has decided to bring the case before the administrative court of Paris. On their side, the services of Haropa Port claim not to be blocking the project and highlight the complexity of identifying sites that can be used. Pending a decision, the head of RiverCat, Dany Carvalho, is counting on the intervention of the Minister of Transport. His company has indeed won the call for projects launched by Voies navigables de France and the Agency for Innovation in Transport for “demonstrators of autonomous decarbonized boats” for the 2024 Paris Games.
