We have all heard of the TGV - trains a grande vitesse - the express trains which can run at over 200kph, but it is not so often explained that the trains need specially adapted lines - LGV.
The project to link Toulouse to Paris in little over 3 hours by TGV is under threat because the last link, Bordeaux - Toulouse, has been put on hold by SNCF due to the high cost. Paris-Bordeaux is now complete and has cut the time to 4 hours 20 minutes, but the last leg would knock more than an hour from that.
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024, but SNCF has indicated that the line to Bordeaux would be the "last for the moment". The maire of Montauban has launched a petition calling for the work to ahead, with a station at Bressols, south of the city, which would allow a link of 2 hours 40 minutes to Paris. A similar petition by the maire of Toulouse attracted only about 23000 signatures, from a wider area population of 750000. It seems that the cost of 8.3 billion euros does not capture much attention. The petitions are to be presented to the candidates in the forthcoming election.
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