By publicly declaring his opposition to the LGV project Between Bordeaux and Toulouse, which he describes as “a ecological massacre“, Pierre Hurmic rekindled the historic rivalry between the two major cities in the southwest.

The mayor of Toulouse deplored his “lack of solidarity” while the president of the Occitanie region lambasted his “selfishness”.

Carole Delga also recalled, during an interview with our colleagues fromToulouse news, that the communities of Occitanie have contributed to the creation of the TGV Tours-Bordeaux line by financing to the tune of 300 million euros.

“Toulouse will always be far from Paris than Bordeaux”

To this, the Mayor EELV of Bordeaux answers: “Listen comrades, despite all the rail solutions in the world, Toulouse will always be further from Paris than Bordeaux. It’s not history, it’s geography. The people of Toulouse have to get it right in their heads. And then, at the LGV Bordeaux-Paris, it also brought them closer to an hour from the capital. “

The mayor of #Bordeaux, opposed to the draft #LGV Between #Paris and #Toulouse, reminds elected officials in favor of #GPSO – not @CaroleDelga and @jlmoudenc – that “despite all the rail solutions in the world, Toulouse will always be further from Paris than Bordeaux” @ActufrBordeaux pic.twitter.com/rLANE51OPc

– Nicolas Gosselin (@ nicolasgossel1) November 1, 2021

Pierre Hurmic went further in his argument. For him, the creation of this high-speed line between Toulouse and Paris will not replace the Toulouse-Paris air link, the most used line in Europe and denounced by the NGO Greenpeace, which campaigns for its abolition. .

Indeed, it is not part of the lines concerned by article 36 of the climate and resilience bill, adopted by the senators in June 2021, and which foresees from March 2022 the ban on regular national air links, since there is an alternative by train of less than 2h30.

The mayor of Bordeaux points to the limits of the TGV

For the mayor of Bordeaux, the creation of a LGV will not reduce air traffic and the atmospheric pollution it generates:

I see a huge difference between Bordeaux-Paris and Toulouse-Paris. Bordeaux-Paris, it took us two hours (note: 2:09 exactly), so it’s really competitive compared to the plane. Toulouse-Paris, in the best case, it will be 3h10.

“So when I am told that the LGV is an alternative to the plane, I say“ yes to Bordeaux ”. But all the studies that are made on the comparison with the air, they lead to the conclusion that beyond three hours, the TGV is no longer relevant in the competition with the plane ”, develops the elected ecologist.

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