Purpose
The purpose of constructing the LGV SEA is to bring high-speed rail service to southwestern France and connect the régions of Poitou-Charentes, Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées with the high-speed rail service of Northern Europe, which connects Paris to London, Brussels, Amsterdam and beyond. The trip between Paris and Bordeaux will take around two hours and ten minutes with a projected speed of 300 km/h. The inter-city links between Tours, Poitiers, Angoulême, and Bordeaux will also be improved and southwestern France will be better connected to diverse parts of the country and the rest of Europe.
The project is also a response to the heavy traffic on the existing rail line. The differences in speed between the high-speed TGV trains, which reach speeds of up to 220 km/h on the existing tracks, and the slower freight trains and TER (regional) trains, which share the same track, create highly congested tracks and prevent their most efficient usage.
Creating dedicated tracks for the TGV allows more freight and TER trains to use the existing tracks. New regional TER services will be created, especially to ease services that are currently crowded. The increase in freight trains on the existing track is also expected to ease truck traffic on the roads in the régions, as trains transport more and more merchandise, easing the impact on the environment as well.
The project is also expected to benefit the economy. The construction of Phase 1 alone is expected to create 10,000 construction jobs a year for five years. Jobs in the transport, commerce, and service sectors are expected to be created as well. Local businesses are likely to see competitiveness increase as their markets expand, and tourism to the region is likely to increase as well.
This route would supplement – and partly supersede – the classic Paris–Bordeaux railway line.
Read more about this topic: LGV Sud Europe Atlantique
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