Rob Williams reports on another ‘grand projet’ for France’s rail system.
HIGH SPEED RAIL
HEADS SOUTH
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rance is continuing to push ahead with the extension of its high-speed rail network. The biggest of the three projects currently under way is the new line between Tours, where the TGV heading south from Paris ends, and trains return to the ‘classic’ line, and Bordeaux, on the Atlantic coast. The Tours-Bordeaux High-Speed Rail Project was proposed as part of an integrated plan for developing national and European high-speed railway networks. It is an exten18 Industry Europe
sion to the LGV Atlantique, the high-speed line from Paris to western France that opened in 1989–1990. The current line runs westward to Le Mans towards Brittany, and the second branch runs south to Tours. The new South-Europe Atlantic (SEA) highspeed rail line between Tours and Bordeaux is Europe’s largest construction site. This is another grand projet of grand proportions. There are 302km of track to lay, and a further 38km of connections to existing lines.
Construction involves building 24 bridges over rivers and valleys, as well as underpasses (one almost two kilometres long), and gradeseparated junctions. Ultimately, it is expected that 18 million travellers (a 20 per cent increase from the current number) per year will take advantage of the new line, which will bring people and regions closer together. At the moment, the journey time from Paris to Bordeaux by train is a little more
