LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse: a new step completed
Carole Delga was elected this Monday president of the supervisory board of the GPSO company, the Grand Sud-Ouest project which includes the LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse. The start of work is expected at the end of 2023.
The GPSO takes a new step. The Grand Sud-Ouest project has since Monday had a supervisory board for the company responsible for steering the creation of the future LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax. A project that will cost 14 billion euros and will be financed by the State, Europe and local authorities.
Carole Delga at the head of the GPSO supervisory board
The GPSO company’s supervisory board was definitively installed on Monday in the presence of the prefect Etienne Guyot, project coordinator, the two presidents of the Occitanie and New Aquitaine regions, and the presidents of the two metropolises of Toulouse and Bordeaux. This council brings together the 25 local authorities who participate in its financing as well as the SNCF. Carole Delga was unanimously elected president, with Alain Rousset, her counterpart from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, as first vice-president. The president of the departmental council of Haute-Garonne Georges Méric and the president of Toulouse Métropole were also elected vice-presidents.
“The LGV will benefit the whole territory. The objective is to connect our rail network internationally, says Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie Region. But it is also the improvement of daily trains and the creation of a real metropolitan RER. This RER will only be possible if we have a new line”. Carole Delga recalls that the current network is reaching saturation point between Toulouse and Montauban: “We cannot add a single train. And between Toulouse and Agen, we will soon be at the maximum”. Another advantage of the LGV, allowing the development of the hoop. “A bar is missing between Bordeaux and Narbonne. In particular, it will make it possible from the Auch-Agen line to bring cereals up to Port-la-Nouvelle,” continues Carole Delga.
The elected officials also wanted to reassure them about obtaining credits from Europe, which must finance the LGV up to 20%. “The GPSO funding application file has not yet been submitted by the State to Europe. This request will be made in the coming months,” Carole Delga recently recalled.
Works in a year and a half
What schedule for the construction site? This is the question posed by all rail users in a hurry to save an hour on the travel time between Toulouse and Paris. The regional prefect is advancing on “a start of work at the end of 2023, for commissioning in 2032”. Carole Delga, for her part, wants to go faster and evokes a deadline “by 2030-2031”. “On major projects scheduled over ten years, there is always room for manoeuvre. The terrain presents no difficulties. We can save time,” assures the President of the Region.
A tax of 4 euros per household
A TSE (special equipment tax) will be introduced next year. It owes according to Etienne Guyot rapporteur “24 million euros per year”. It should concern all taxpayers living at least one hour from a TGV station. “But it will be a modest sum, 4 euros per family concerned” specifies Carole Delga. Will another office tax be included? “It does not exist today but will be the subject of discussions” indicates Etienne Guyot.