Occitania Region and Toulouse Métropole can pop the champagne after four years of battle over a highly political project. On 27 April, a letter from Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed that the French government was committing 4.1 billion euros in the financing of Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed section. By 2030, it will be possible to make 3h10 Paris-Toulouse journey compared with 4h22 at present (best journey time).
Toulouse was one of the last regional cities (with Nice and Clermont-Ferrand) not to be missed...
Occitania Region and Toulouse Métropole can pop the champagne after four years of battle over a highly political project. On 27 April, a letter from Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed that the French government was committing 4.1 billion euros in the financing of Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed section. By 2030, it will be possible to make 3h10 Paris-Toulouse journey compared with 4h22 at present (best journey time).
Toulouse was one of the last regional cities (along with Nice and Clermont-Ferrand) not to have "its" own dedicated high-speed line. It had become a priority for the region. Not least because of Toulouse's enormous economic weight in the South-West.
A €7.5 billion project
Building the high-speed line is going to be expensive, very expensive. It is estimated that 7.5 billion euros the construction of the 200 km section between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Almost as much as the Tours-Bordeaux route on the existing LGV Paris / Sud-Ouest. At the time, the 340 km section had swallowed up 7.8 billion euross. The future line will cut journey times between the two south-western metropolises to just under an hour.
Financing section of the GPSO (Grand projet du Sud-Ouest) will therefore be guaranteed for 40% by the State and 40% by local authorities - mainly the Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine regions, and the Toulouse and Bordeaux metropolitan areas - through a finance company. The French government will also be applying for 20% of European Union funding.
The construction schedule can now be accelerated. Before the end of the summer, the financial package should be approved. The new finance company will then be set up for a period of three years. launch of works by 2024. And a potential opening scheduled for around 2030.
The LGV will have another beneficial effect for users of the Occitanie region. It will make it possible to relieve congestion on the existing rail line between Bordeaux and Toulouse, including services to Agen and Montauban. This will create a genuine RER/TER network around the Toulouse metropolitan area.
