A new step forward. The environmental authorization allowing the completion of railway works south of Bordeaux was signed on Friday, ahead of the construction of the high-speed line (LGV) to Toulouse itself, expected in 2028, the prefecture of Nouvelle-Aquitaine announced.
“This decision constitutes the last stage of the environmental authorization process launched at the end of January 2023. It will allow SNCF Réseau, owner of the project, to start work on the Bordeaux Toulouse rail link as part of the Grand South-West Rail Project (GPSO) ”, specifies the prefecture in a press release.
These rail developments aim in particular to create a third track and eliminate six level crossings over a distance of 12 km. Similar work began north of Toulouse last May.
Paris Toulouse in 3h10
The LGV’s goal is to connect Toulouse to Paris in three hours and ten minutes by 2032, saving an hour on the current route. A branch line running through the eastern Landes forest should connect Dax to Bordeaux in twenty minutes less and, one day, allow direct connections to Spain.
The project is expected to cost at least 14.3 billion euros, financed by the state, local authorities and the European Union.
The LGV is widely supported by the communities of Occitania, but, in New Aquitaine, the project – born in the 1990s and relaunched since 2020 – arouses long-standing and protean opposition, mixing local elected officials and parliamentarians, residents, foresters and winemakers.
Last Saturday, a thousand protesters rallied in Gironde to denounce what they called a “large, useless” and “deadly” project, which according to them would lead to the artificialization of around 5,000 hectares. They prefer the renewal of existing lines to develop “everyday trains”.
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