Le Figaro Bordeaux
Not one, not two, not three, but 2,340 letters were sent to as many municipalities on February 29 by the
“Saint-Médard d'Eyrans group”
, a collective made up of deputies, senators and local elected officials opposed to the Grand South West Rail Project (GPSO).
This letter asks elected officials from these 2,340 municipalities to join the opposition movement against this major 14.3 billion euro project, which plans to connect Toulouse and Bordeaux on a high-speed line, then Bordeaux and Spain.
According to the Saint-Médard d'Eyrans group - which includes deputies Sophie Mette (MoDem), Loïc Prud'homme (La France Insoumise), Nicolas Thierry (Europe Écologie Les Verts), and senators Hervé Gillé (Socialist Party) , Monique de Marco (EELV), Florence Lassarade (Les Républicains), Nathalie Delattre (Radical Party) and Laurence Harribey (PS) - the special equipment tax (TSE) to which these 2,340 municipalities are subject would in reality be an “
injustice »
for the inhabitants of the municipalities concerned, because it would be a
“TGV tax for a train that they will not use”
.
The Great South-West Rail Project
Debated since 2005, the GPSO plans to facilitate trade at the local, interregional, national and international level by developing a high-speed axis between Toulouse and Bordeaux then between Bordeaux and Spain via Dax and Bayonne.
Costed at 14.3 billion euros, this monumental project benefits from the support of the European Union and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions.
Locally, however, voices are being heard to criticize its impact on ecosystems, and in particular the artificialization of thousands of hectares of agricultural land and natural spaces, as well as its cost, at a time when investments are deemed necessary. to make
“daily trains”
more efficient .
Existing lines
“
still underused”
These 2,340 municipalities are located less than 60 minutes by car from a future station served by the LGV and will therefore be subject to the TSE for 40 years, reassessed each year according to inflation.
In their letter, the elected officials explain that they understand
“the interest in developing modern and efficient transport infrastructures for our regions”
, but affirm that
“a large part of the municipalities subject to the TSE will not directly benefit from the new lines, which raises questions of fairness
.
According to them,
“the rural municipalities of the South-West”
are
“imposed an additional financial burden to finance transport infrastructure”
, which will mainly serve the inhabitants of the two large metropolises.
Recalling the irreversible impact of this project on natural and agricultural areas,
“without any tangible benefit”
, the elected officials judge that
“the very usefulness of the project raises questions”
.
According to them, the existing rail links between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Dax
“are still underused”
, and
“no renovation project aimed at increasing their capacity has been seriously studied to date”
.
They insist that
“on the other hand, many lines that are really useful to our fellow citizens and to the life of our territories are not maintained and are gradually being abandoned in favor of road transport”
.