The Council of State lifted Monday evening the last legal obstacle to the high-speed rail line project between Bordeaux and Toulouse, by rejecting the request for cancellation of the declaration of public utility (DUP) demanded by a group of opponents .
This decision of the highest French administrative court closed the possibilities of prosecution.
There now remains the whole issue of funding. The State has already pledged to finance more than four billion euros, or about 40% of the total cost of the project, Europe should participate up to 20%. The rest is therefore the responsibility of communities in both Occitania and New Aquitaine.
Not a cent from the Gironde
In Gironde, things got off to a bad start… Jean-Luc Gleyze had already said it, he repeats it: the Gironde will not put a cent. “We will not have to rely on us financially since the train is outside the competence of the department” the president of the departmental council affirmed several years ago, his entourage confirms that this position has not changed.
However, when you take out the calculator, after the checks on the Occitanie side, it remains between two and three billion euros to be found in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The region must commit to the tune of a little more than a billion and a half explains President Alain Rousset: “I believe that the region must make this effort because it is for the comfort of its inhabitants. I think that we must convince those and those who, for budgetary reasons, are reluctant that it is a Occitanie has created a global agreement around the president of the region and I very much hope that we will reach a global agreement around the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region with the departments and cities that will benefit from this service. “
For the rest of the funding, it’s a bit of a blur. The communities of Montesquieu, Convergence Garonne, South Gironde and Bazadais, on the route, remain skeptical about their participation. Bordeaux Métropole is not talking about making a commitment for the moment. Discussions should therefore continue until the creation planned for next March of a local public establishment, starting point of the construction site.