Launch of the first project of the Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV

The Grand Sud-Ouest Rail Project (GPSO) plans the construction of a high-speed line between Bordeaux and Toulouse, saving one hour between the two cities, as well as a section between Bordeaux and Dax, in the Landes, intended to be extended to Spain.

The total cost of the GPSO is estimated at 14 billion euros: 8 billion for Bordeaux-Toulouse, 4 for Bordeaux-Dax, and one billion for each railway development project for tracks and stations, north of Toulouse and south of Bordeaux.

“We have been waiting for it for a long time, the promise was made to us in 1991. The high-speed line will put an end to great inequality. We are the only regional capital not to have a service” by an LGV, said note Jean-Luc Moudenc, DVD mayor of the fourth largest city in France, located 700 km from Paris.

Same feeling for the PS president of the Occitanie region Carole Delga, who sees it as "the repair of an injustice", forty years after the commissioning of the first TGV between Paris and Lyon.

It highlights that the infrastructure “will make it possible to increase the frequency of daily trains”. The saturation of the current network prevents the rate of TER from being increased.

Christophe Huau, general director of GPSO within SNCF Réseau and project owner, agrees: the construction of this new high-speed line "will enable the development of TER and rail freight, because the number of tracks will be doubled.

In addition to the transition from two to four tracks, he added, "the railway development project north of Toulouse is an opportunity to improve accessibility [of stations] and safety, with the elimination of crossings level".

The railway development project south of Bordeaux is due to begin in October.

The new infrastructure is financed 40% by the State, 40% by local authorities in Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine and 20% by the European Union.

The Tours-Bordeaux LGV line was put into service in 2017, placing Bordeaux two hours from Paris.

“We are working on Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax”, underlines the director of GPSO, “but the final objective is to go as far as Spain”, in the direction of San Sebastian and Madrid.

The construction of the new LGV has opponents, including the EELV mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic. Communities, such as the departments of Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne, refused to participate in financing the new line, according to SNCF-Réseau.