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LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse: The date for the first trains to the pink city has been announced!

undefined undefined 10 septembre 2021 undefined 12h40

undefined undefined 2 avril 2024 undefined 14h56

The Editor

LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse / Enzojz

After Bordeaux-Paris in 2h15, a high-speed line Bordeaux-Toulouse will see the light of day in a few years. The two rival capitals of the Southwest will soon be connected in 1H05 by train for a total cost of 14.3 billion euros. The construction will start as soon as 2024. Jean Castex was in Toulouse yesterday to sign a protocol agreement on the financing of the first stage of the Great Southwest Railway Project.

After many obstacles, the project is finally on the right track. It was the prime minister himself who signed yesterday in Toulouse the financing of the Grand Railway Project of Southwest (GPSO). Total cost of the project? 14.3 billion euros, with 40% from the State, 40% from local authorities in Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and 20% from the European Union. After successfully concluding the financing of the Marseille-Nice TGV line recently, it's now the turn of the Toulouse-Paris line to take center stage. The first works will start in 2024, with a possibility for late 2023 if the schedule allows.

First groundbreaking in 2024 and first trains in 2032

It's important to know that the beginnings of the project date back to 1980. 42 years later, the project is finally on track. Spanning 222 km, with 55 km of shared track with the Bordeaux-Spain new line, the Bordeaux-Toulouse new line is designed for a commercial speed of 320 km/h. It would place the Occitan capital 3 hours and 15 minutes from Paris and only 1 hour and 5 minutes from Bordeaux. The first Bordeaux-Toulouse trains will be running in 2032. You know the saying ... "Patience is the mother of all virtues".

Key figures:
  1h05  : travel time Bordeaux-Toulouse*
  3h10  : travel time Paris-Toulouse*
  320 km/h : maximum speed
  2 gares nouvelles : Agen, Montauban
  55  km of common track between Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans and Bernos-Beaulac (South Gironde)
  167  km of new line between Bernos-Beaulac and Saint-Jory (North of Toulouse)