TENDERING of the first contracts to build the 222km high-speed line from Bordeaux to Toulouse is due to start later this year, following the confirmation of French government support for the project that has been delayed by funding difficulties.
Speaking in Toulouse on May 7, prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that the government will provide €410m to the French Transport Infrastructure Finance Agency (AFITF) from next month, funding initial spending on the project.
The Bordeaux - Toulouse high-speed line is estimated to cost at least €8.5bn, Lecornu said. The government is providing 40% of the project cost, with 40% financed by regional and local authorities along the route and 20% provided by the European Union (EU).
Government and local funding is being provided under a binding agreement signed by the prime minister with the Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine regions, the départements of Haute-Garonne and Landes, and the authorities for greater Toulouse and Bordeaux. The government and the local authorities will each provide €410m in both 2026 and 2027.
The agreement also commits the funding partners to begin work in the coming months on revising the financing plan for the project, updating costs and the delivery schedule. This is intended to inform the government’s final decision on how the project will be financed.
The high-speed line will cut the fastest journey time from Paris to Toulouse from 4h 30min to 3h 10min, and from Bordeaux to Toulouse from 2 hours to 1 hour. The objective is to increase traffic between Paris and Toulouse by 50%, or an additional 5 million passengers a year.
The Bordeaux - Toulouse line forms part of Phase 1 of the €14bn Great South West Railway Project (GPSO), comprising 327km of new infrastructure that also includes a high-speed line from Bordeaux to Dax.
Existing infrastructure will also be upgraded under Phase 1 to increase capacity for high-speed trains and more frequent regional services. Work will take place south of Bordeaux on the 12km from Bègles to Saint Médard d’Eyrans where the new line to Toulouse starts, and on the 17km section between Castelnau d’Estrétefonds and Toulouse Matabiau station.
Planning consent has been obtained for Phase 1. To be executed over the longer term, Phase 2 involves extending the high-speed line from Dax to the Spanish border.
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