the report that met the fire on the rails
A report placed under the imperative of ecological planning and which takes up, to quantify it more precisely, that…
A report placed under the imperative of ecological planning and which takes up, to quantify it more precisely, the one piloted in 2018 by Philippe Duron. Composed of 17 members, elected and qualified personalities, the COI is certainly only an advisory body but its opinion counts with the decision-makers, at the head designated by the government.
This is why the supporters of the GPSO (Grand Projet du Sud-Ouest), which brings together the two high-speed lines Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax, choked on reading it. Carole Delga and Alain Rousset, who chair the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions, immediately wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in red ink. Alain Rousset also called Clément Beaune, the Minister of Transport. Lastly, he assured himself in Brussels of Europe’s constant support for this new high-speed service and, this Friday in Hendaye, that of his counterpart from Euzkadi, Iñigo Urkullu.
Decisions in February
Renaud Lagrave is no exception. Vice-president of the Region in charge of transport, he found himself in the Landes prefecture last Friday when Emmanuel Macron presented his wishes to the armies. With other elected officials from the Landes, he questioned the Head of State on the COI report. “We reminded him that the Council of State rejected all the appeals lodged against the project and that it validated the financing plan in which the State is a stakeholder alongside the local authorities of New Aquitaine and Occitania. The slightest delay can send us back fifteen years. We are assured that important decisions will be announced in the first half of February. »
What is there in this report to stress the pro-LGV camp and inflate the morale of the opponents? In reality, it is not the Bordeaux-Toulouse branch but the one that goes to Dax that weakens the project. Or, one cannot be built without the other, in accordance with the Declaration of public utility, and the finances of the project, resulted in 14 billion euros.
The COI puts three scenarios on the table. The first, called “Budgetary framework”, provides for an envelope of 54.8 billion euros for the current five-year term. He has the preference of the Ministry of Finance, which pro-LGV accuses of wanting to strangle excessive investments in infrastructure, including the GPSO. Scenario 2, “Ecological planning”, amounts to 84.3 billion and, according to specialists, would be favored by Minister Clément Beaune. Finally, scenario 3, “Priority to infrastructure”, rises to 98 billion euros and is suitable for some of the members of the COI.
Fifteen Year Report
In scenario 1, the start of the work is deferred to 2027 with the construction site of the railway facilities south of Bordeaux and north of Toulouse. That of the LGV itself does not begin before 2033. In scenario 2, on the other hand, it is in 2033 that Bordeaux and Toulouse are served by high speed. Same delay in scenario 3.
It is therefore the other branch, Bordeaux-Dax, which gets stuck since, in the three options, it is postponed for around fifteen years. “A first-class funeral,” fulminates Renaud Lagrave. Legally, the shift of the “Spanish” section can be attacked before the Council of State by the anti-LGV. And above all, it jeopardizes European funding (20%) which is only justified by the cross-border part, with Spain, of the project. Opponents of the GPSO, who also have their branches in Brussels, including Karima Delli, the president of the transport committee in the European Parliament, say that the funding is in trouble.