Bordeaux-Tours T.G.V

[Pyreneenguy]

France's President François Hollande inaugurated the Bordeaux-Tours T.G.V last Tuesday, putting Bordeaux at just over 2 hours from Paris. The lines' construction was partly funded by the line's builder, VincI. In return they will receive revenue based on traffic for 50 years. Commercial traffic starts at the beginning of July. Originally the line was to be continued towards Agen, Montauban and Toulouse but opposition is strong and the line is unlikely to be built.

This is my " neck of the woods" and there is a strong possibility of Eurostar services from London, direct to Bordeaux. The London to Marseille direct service is a huge success, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

It does feel like a revolution in French railways for a significant proportion of the cost (and therefore the risk and returns) being met by private funds.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...auguration-for-lgv-sud-europe-atlantique.html
Vinci are also involved in bidding for construction contracts on HS2.

 

[Polarbear]

It certainly would be nice to see a through service between London and Bordeaux. There's a pretty big market out there as it's a popular area for Brits to holiday & buy second/retirement/holiday homes.

The only snag is that any through service would have to crawl around Paris, adding to the time taken. That said, I expect a through train could do the journey in around 5 hours each way?

 

[MarcVD]

But like an already famous previous example the traffic foreseen on this line will not be enough to support the costs.

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Groningen]

On Google Streetview Earth you can follow the whole line.

 

[jayiscupid]

On Google Streetview Earth you can follow the whole line.

Hi, do you have a link? I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

 

[Groningen]

Hi, do you have a link? I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

Start your journey in Google Maps at 44.934568, -0.476346 (Bordeaux) and move it to the river Dordogne underneath the A10 motorway. Do it in Earth however!

 

[rf_ioliver]

LGV Bretagne opens later this year as well....just did the Paris-Rennes TGV today -- coming off the LGV at Le Mans is just too short.

Seems like RFF have done a lot of work in Brittany too - Guingamp for example has been rebuilt, Lannion line has been electrified and in some places I understand there's even a permitted speed of over 200kmh.

Anyway, while waiting for a connecting train at Guingamp, a TGV came through at 160kmh ... those things are impressive even when running "slowly"

t.

Ian

 

[Groningen]

The extension from Le Mans to Rennes is already viweable on Google Maps with 2 small blackouts in between.

 

[jopsuk]

Now they need to knock some sense into the south-west to get Bordeaux-Toulouse (and onto Narbonne) built, and the branch from that to Dax and Biarritz.

 

[Joe Paxton]

It certainly would be nice to see a through service between London and Bordeaux. There's a pretty big market out there as it's a popular area for Brits to holiday & buy second/retirement/holiday homes.

The only snag is that any through service would have to crawl around Paris, adding to the time taken. That said, I expect a through train could do the journey in around 5 hours each way?

There already are direct TGV services from Lille (both stations) to Bordeaux that do the trundle on surburban lines around the south of Paris. They stop at Roissy/CDG airport, so provide a direct rail connection for people in the south west.

Journey times in August, so using the new line, are just over four and a half hours from Lille to Bordeaux.

 

[Polarbear]

There already are direct TGV services from Lille (both stations) to Bordeaux that do the trundle on surburban lines around the south of Paris. They stop at Roissy/CDG airport, so provide a direct rail connection for people in the south west.

Journey times in August, so using the new line, are just over four and a half hours from Lille to Bordeaux.

So that should make a journey time from London to Bordeaux of around 5'45" to 6'00". That's not too bad given that whilst a flight would take around 1'30" from London to the Bordeaux area, add on check in & getting to/from airports brings the journey time differential a lot closer.

I'd certainly consider it anyway.

 

[rf_ioliver]

But like an already famous previous example the traffic foreseen on this line will not be enough to support the costs.

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Which example...I've yet to see anything less than a full TGV everytime I travel in France...

t.

Ian

 

[D1009]

So that should make a journey time from London to Bordeaux of around 5'45" to 6'00". That's not too bad given that whilst a flight would take around 1'30" from London to the Bordeaux area, add on check in & getting to/from airports brings the journey time differential a lot closer.

I'd certainly consider it anyway.

Apart from the fact that a northbound service would be subject to the 1 hr stop at Lille for security/immigration checks, similar to the Marseille service.

 

[MarcVD]

For infrastructure point of view, the fact that the train is full or empty is irrelevant. Trains pay the same track access charges, empty or full. What is important for infrastructure companies is that enough trains circulate on their tracks to recoup their costs. But as SNCF, as you just remarqued, won't run trains that are not full, the number of trains is much lower than expected. And this results in PPP schemes not being profitable. The Perpignan-Figueras one crashed not so long ago. With less than 10 trains per day on the line, this is hardly a surprise... And there are already insisting rumors that the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique PPP scheme might crash for the same reasons. There will be 3 trains less than expected per direction on the line, apparently enough to miss the profitability thresold.

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[Groningen]

According to Wiki the Bordeaux – Toulouse line is unlikely to be constructed by 2020.

 

[Hophead]

So that should make a journey time from London to Bordeaux of around 5'45" to 6'00". That's not too bad given that whilst a flight would take around 1'30" from London to the Bordeaux area, add on check in & getting to/from airports brings the journey time differential a lot closer.

I'd certainly consider it anyway.

Don't forget to also add in, then, the time to get to & from your railway stations.

 

[jopsuk]

also the budget terminal at Bordeaux is an awful place, but that's a different discussion (plus they still haven't extended the tram to the airport)

 

[exile]

Don't forget to also add in, then, the time to get to & from your railway stations.

Well yes, but my trip to the airport will also involve me getting to the nearest railway station.

The ability to check in on line is now tipping the balance back towards flying, to some extent, though at most airports you are still recommended to arrive 2 to 3 hours before take-off so you have time to clear security, even if you checked in online and have no cabin bags.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Well yes, but my trip to the airport will also involve me getting to the nearest railway station.

The ability to check in on line is now tipping the balance back towards flying, to some extent, though at most airports you are still recommended to arrive 2 to 3 hours before take-off so you have time to clear security, even if you checked in online and have no cabin bags.

Helsinki you can get away with 30mins and even Paris CDG last night was wonderfully efficient (!)...though one trip via Chicago last year had an impressive 2.5 hour wait - if you ever want to see a security/safety risk at an airport, that was it...good thing they even took our bottles of water away before security, otherwise someone might have been hydrated...<sigh>

Ian

 

[Bald Rick]

Don't forget to also add in, then, the time to get to & from your railway stations.

I can do, indeed have done, central Bordeaux to my front door in Herts in a little over 4hours via Squeezy and what must be Europes worst airline terminal (Bordeau, not Luton!)

By train with a change at Paris it will be about 6, but more expensive. Getting close to viable I'd say.

 

[Bald Rick]

According to Wiki the Bordeaux – Toulouse line is unlikely to be constructed by 2020.

You can add 5 years to that. It's unlikely to start construction before 2020. I'm down there in a few weeks so will have a look.

 

[jopsuk]

what must be Europes worst airline terminal (Bordeau, not Luton!)

I mean, it's hard to be worse than Luton, but the Billi terminal is in another league

 

[Pyreneenguy]

Reservations on the new Bordeaux-Tours Ligne Grande Vitesse open today.

S.N.C.F. said they will, on average, be 10 euros more expensive than at present. They also announced that the current cut-pricze "ID - TGV's" were being discontinued.

 

[daikilo]

They also announced that the current cut-pricze "ID - TGV's" were being discontinued.

My understanding is that the ID-TGV brand will disappear but the trains (sometimes just a second set attached to a regular TGV) will remain. SNCF has introduced various permanent "low fare offers" recently.

 

[daikilo]

You can add 5 years to that. It's unlikely to start construction before 2020. I'm down there in a few weeks so will have a look.

There is no construction whatsoever for the moment as they haven't completed the design studies and worse do not have financing in place, with SNCF saying they cannot take on more debt.

 

[Pyreneenguy]

There is no construction whatsoever for the moment as they haven't completed the design studies and worse do not have financing in place, with SNCF saying they cannot take on more debt.

At present the fastest trains between Toulouse and Bordeaux take 2hr 15 min, which give an approximate journey time of 5 hr between Toulouse and Paris. Even cutting this time by 30/40 min would still leave flying a better option. Access to Blagnac is now easy with the tram connection and there is a flight every 30 mins or better.

 

[Starmill]

Some good aerial shots here from the end of 2016.
https://youtu.be/zzVkEuRRqHI

It looks great! I'm jealous!!!