Confirmed : HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line to be scrapped and replaced with other projects.

[Jonny]

Through running. Trains will still be able to run up from London to join the WCML at Handsacre. It's just that they'll be stuck on the existing lines from then onwards.

It depends what they do with those lines, if there is some improvement on those lines then it might not be so bad after all, especially if it speeds up other trains as well.

 

[Bayum]

Based on traffic apparently, which is the whole reason for the tram line.

Yes but you’re not going to fit a separate tram line up Headingley Lane/Otley Road on the way to Headingley, which is what’s needed. The tram is just going to get stuck in traffic.

 

[daodao]

A separate HS2 line was supposed to free up paths on the WCML for local services cut back as part of the enhanced Pendolino timetable, to be reinstated, as well as adding in additional services. We were expecting additional Macclesfield-Manchester locals, Northwich-Manchester locals and Crewe or Hazel Grove-Manchester locals.

HS2 phase 2b would not have provided any significant relief to the main WCML itself, merely to the Manchester-Crewe line. Cancelling this section also accounts for much of the savings from scrapping HS2 north of the West Midlands, so it is easy to understand the rationale for Sunak's decision regarding this part of the proposed line. It also did not yet have parliamentary approval, so not construction had started, but there is planning blight.

I am not aware of any proposals, justification or need for any additional local services on the electrified ex-LNW suburban network to the south of Manchester. The only station on this network within Greater Manchester that does not already have 2 tph is Bramhall.

The problem is the Tories seem to want to salt the well and make sure no one CAN build extensions of any sort!

Sunak’s ‘spiteful’ sale of land intended for HS2 dashes hopes of revival

Prime minister’s move criticised as ‘salting the earth’ so Birmingham-Crewe line cannot be built

www.theguardian.com

This Guardian report (apologies for the paywall) suggests that Sunak has authorized the sale of CPOd land already - but shouldn't that be impossible as the Act of Parliament for HS2 phase 2a hasn't yet been revoked?

The deliberate decision to dispose of the land that has already been acquired and prepared for building phase 2a, rather than just shelving this part of the project for now, means that in effect no future government can easily resurrect HS2 north of Handsacre.

 

[21C101]

You would think the decision would be judicially reviewed, I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy Burnham launched a legal challenge against the land sales

One of those cwses where it us worth it even if you lose as it gobbles up a lot of time and there isn't that much time before the next election.

You would think Starmer as a Lawyer would be pursuing such a strategy.

 

[MadCommuter]

A moment to think of the grief caused by those living on the proposed route of HS2 and lost their properties and those that have worked on it and now have an uncertain future. All for nothing. Not even a deferred project. So much money wasted.

 

[Krokodil]

HS2 phase 2b would not have provided any significant relief to the main WCML itself, merely to the Manchester-Crewe line.

As originally specified it would have done, it should have gone all of the way to Golborne.

A moment to think of the grief caused by those living on the proposed route of HS2 and lost their properties and those that have worked on it and now have an uncertain future. All for nothing. Not even a deferred project. So much money wasted.

Yes, imagine how much less upheaval there would have been if there hadn't been endless reviews, tree houses and court cases to drag things out.

 

[Bantamzen]

I'm trying to understand the stuff about the new station in Bradford and 30-minute journeys to Manchester that a few people have speculated on.

The details in the full Network North document are this:



From that detail, I would surmise that what the Government is thinking of is a new direct line from Bradford to Huddersfield (I'm pretty sure there's no other way to get that journey down to 12 minutes), along with substantial line-speed improvements between Huddersfield and Manchester - to get that journey time down from 30 minutes to 20 minutes (Is anything like that already planned as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail?). Hard to make out what the new station in Bradford might be without delving into speculation, but I think we can rule out any speculation about it being some kind of Bradford Crossrail, because that's not relevant to anything that document specifies. I'm tempted to wonder whether it will actually end up as some kind of parkway station on the outskirts of Bradford to serve the new line to Huddersfield (although I hope that's not the case).

Also worth noting that Bradford is mentioned as one of the places that the proposed mass-transit system for Leeds is intended to reach.

So reading between the lines, the new "station" in Bradford would be a tram-stop along Market Street between Interchange & Forster Sqaure. This could then be sold as both Crossrail and a new station....

(I'm so glad it's Friday, I'm more cynical than I've ever been!)

 

[Austriantrain]

Well that’s because I don’t know. I mean I do know a lot, but not everything.

The point I was making is that the line has been consented to be built for nearly a decade, and construction hasn’t started yet (nor is it close to being started). And the French Government must have vacillated about it throughout the intervening period. (If they hadn’t, it would be being built). It was originally supposed to open in 2019/20…

There has been a general vacillation on new HSL in France recently. First a push to stop construction and reinvest the money in local networks, then - realizing that HSL are vote-winners an France - a turnaround to reinstate building them. So everything has been delayed for years.

The difference to the UK is: the Bordeaux - Toulouse line is as ancillary to the network as an Edinburgh- Aberdeen HSL would be. Everything that is really important is already in place.

 

[squizzler]

An absolute travesty, obviously.

The atmosphere in the office today was the most angry and scathing I have ever known. Lots of people worried about their jobs. Everyone has seen through this for what it is.

My prayers go out to all those who have put such care into a project only for it to be cast aside so callously.

I would do your utmost to remain upbeat. The national conversation is all about rail still. The random projects of line improvements and electrification will still be needing people to work on them, even as I maintain the full high speed rail (HSR) programme is still to play for.

In creating “Network North” I think Sunak chopped up the HS2 Japanese knotweed and scattered the pieces across the property. All there little pieces - infused with skills once directed into HS2 a will inevitably sprout and spread.

For their parent he Tory party are descending into full blown civil war. Supporters of HSR can capitalise on the division until another government get in, in which case they abandon their host.

So hang in there rail people, watch Network North be humiliated by factions hostile to the prime minister (but keep what’s good) and allow the inevitability of HSR take root in the fertile soil of UK, and with our high population it does indeed remain fertile soil.

And this inevitability can be accelerated as more of us join Railfuture or Campaign for Better Transport! These organisations need to put Rushi’s face on their homepage: he is the best recruiting sergeant they have!

 

[YorkRailFan]

Yes but you’re not going to fit a separate tram line up Headingley Lane/Otley Road on the way to Headingley, which is what’s needed. The tram is just going to get stuck in traffic.

Which is exactly why the DfT blocked it, because of traffic.

 

[Parjon]

All there little pieces - infused with skills once directed into HS2 a will inevitably sprout and spread.

Can we not instead just hope they are delivered, and delivered as rail projects, on time, on budget?

 

[irish_rail]

London - Birmingham - 3tph
London - Manchester - 3tph
London - Liverpool - 1tph
London - Glasgow - 1tph
Birmingham - Manchester - 2tph

Forgive me , I haven't kept pace with all this, but does this Birmingham to Manchester service you mention replace the current XC one from New st? So would passengers not coming from London be forced to travel from New St to Curzon St to head north?

 

[RochdalePioneers]

The remaining elephant is Euston. This only gets built with private sector money, so lets expect that to be massively paired back as well. I don't think 400m trains are on the agenda any more...

 

[Mogster]

This morning GMB (ITV) are suggesting there’s going to be a parliamentary vote on the HS2 B cancellation.

I’d hardly take GMB as a reliable source of information and this doesn’t seem to be mentioned anywhere else.

 

[MidlandMainlie]

I suppose that the act authorises the secretary of state to order the purchase of land (within the areas defined by the act) deemed necessary for the project.
The Prime Minister could argue that no land is deemed necessary for the project.

Also as a former Labour member (not a Corbynite or a Blairite), Starmer has a long history of being anti HS2 on the backbenches.

I very much doubt he will order the project restarted, and I don't think he will tolerate Burnham as Mayor of Manchester after May. I expect he will be deselected if he attempts to stand again. He's far too independent of Head Office, he will dealt with like Blair tried to deal with Red Ken, but Burnham doesn't have Supplementryl Vote to save him from deselection.

It is no secret that Burnham and Starmer don’t get on but he won’t be deselected, he has already been confirmed as candidate for next Mays mayor election. A vote to bar him would have to be made at Labour’s National Executive Committee where Starmer is only one of 39 members and the Unions have a big say and would give such a proposal short shrift.

 

[sprinterguy]

Forgive me , I haven't kept pace with all this, but does this Birmingham to Manchester service you mention replace the current XC one from New st? So would passengers not coming from London be forced to travel from New St to Curzon St to head north?

Based on the most recent business case I have in front of me (2020), my understanding was that the Birmingham - Manchester HS2 services were dependent on Phase 2B being built. They're not shown in the service patterns for earlier phases.

Without a separate line all the way to Manchester, I don't think there would be the paths available on the classic network for both 2 x HS2 north of Handsacre and the existing 2 x XC services per hour, so it'd have to be either/or.

 

[mpthomson]

I think it's fairly obvious to everyone that you don't have any serious evidence to offer, whether it relates to the wider financial world or specifically to the cost of HS2.

See my post above about how the French view environmental issues when doing big infra. Bluntly they don’t, so they don’t spend/waste (delete as appropriate to your view) colossal sums of money on environmental consultants and environment impact assessments. They just build what they need to build.

Quote from French minister about public consultation - ‘You don’t talk to the frogs when draining the swamp’.

Slightly OT - but it closed late 2021 - probably took a hit during the lockdowns of 2020/21 that it struggled to recover from https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/19584759.llama-karma-kafe-closes-a66-near-penrith/



The thing with the A1 is there are several things which still need sorting out so an 'announcement' on the A1 could mean any one of several different schemes


Fair enough - I'd expect the A66 to get the go-ahead, not least because there's a pretty good safety argument and most of it is 'in-filling' the remaining sections of single carriageway where other bits of dual carriageway have already been built. I think the biggest works were probably at Penrith where they were looking at fairly signficant changes to the M6 junction.


France has a population density of about half the UK - much of the TGV networks mileage was built through open countryside where the only objector was the farmer who's land the line was going across and he was usually assuaged by ensuring he had a bridge / underpass to allow him to get around his land still. Whereas HS2 was heading out of the UK's largest city - London being almost 10 million people in an area of over 600 square miles - Paris by contrast has a population of 2 million people in an area of 1100 sq miles. I'm sure you can work out why the project to build a railway line across relatively sparsely populated open countryside is far easier than into and out of two major cities and once out of them through fairly well populated areas.

Re your last point; also much more about the French attitude towards public consultation and property, which is very relevant to this.

Slightly OT - but it closed late 2021 - probably took a hit during the lockdowns of 2020/21 that it struggled to recover from https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/19584759.llama-karma-kafe-closes-a66-near-penrith/



The thing with the A1 is there are several things which still need sorting out so an 'announcement' on the A1 could mean any one of several different schemes


Fair enough - I'd expect the A66 to get the go-ahead, not least because there's a pretty good safety argument and most of it is 'in-filling' the remaining sections of single carriageway where other bits of dual carriageway have already been built. I think the biggest works were probably at Penrith where they were looking at fairly signficant changes to the M6 junction.


France has a population density of about half the UK - much of the TGV networks mileage was built through open countryside where the only objector was the farmer who's land the line was going across and he was usually assuaged by ensuring he had a bridge / underpass to allow him to get around his land still. Whereas HS2 was heading out of the UK's largest city - London being almost 10 million people in an area of over 600 square miles - Paris by contrast has a population of 2 million people in an area of 1100 sq miles. I'm sure you can work out why the project to build a railway line across relatively sparsely populated open countryside is far easier than into and out of two major cities and once out of them through fairly well populated areas.

Re your last point; also much more about the French attitude towards public consultation and property, which is very relevant to this.

He said he won't commit, not that it won't happen (I'm delusional I know)

As I said previously he’ll secretly be pleased that Sunak has announced it as it saves him having to do it once he’s elected .

Scrapping it has hardly appeased the home counties, many are annoyed that they still have a rail line but it goes to only Birmingham.

As ever it’s worthwhile noting that HS2 won’t be a big consideration in the GE for the majority of people, this forum is a bit of a bubble in that respect because of its area of interest.

The general population will be far more bothered by NHS, economy (particularly interest rates) and immigration type issues. HS2 will be a long way down a long list on the doorsteps.

 

[BRX]

They just had a strange interview with someone from the contractor Mace on radio 4 talking about private financing of Euston. He talked about how we will have 6-car platforms instead of 10-car ones. Then he said something about how it could be funded by rail tickets. And with 30 million passengers per year they'd only need to charge them £1.50 each. No idea what he was on about. It seems like everyone involved in this is clueless.

 

[yorkie]

Just a reminder that in this particular thread, we should stick to what has actually been announced.

If anyone would like to post anything of a speculative nature, for example how a particular project could/might/should be carried out, or any alternative projects/proposals (such as scrapping HS1 entirely, building alternative routes or anything else), these should be posted in Speculative Discussion (in which case, please create a new thread, if there isn't one already; any such threads can be linked to from here)

UK Railway Discussion threads should avoid politics unless unavoidable and directly on topic, in which case it should be kept reasonable and to a minimum please. Also if anyone would like to get into a political discussion, this should take place in General Discussion (again, please create a new thread, if there isn't one already; any such threads can be linked to from here)

Thanks!

 

[A0wen]

As ever it’s worthwhile noting that HS2 won’t be a big consideration in the GE for the majority of people, this forum is a bit of a bubble in that respect because of its area of interest.

The general population will be far more bothered by NHS, economy (particularly interest rates) and immigration type issues. HS2 will be a long way down a long list on the doorsteps.

Spot on - and where it is a consideration, it will be in the areas affected - so the areas where it's already being built "why are we still having to put up with the demolition / destruction", in the areas which have been clouded by uncertainty whether HS2 will run through their area, one of two reactions, either relief of "it's all over now, we can return to normal" or anger "it's wasted time / ripped up communities / forced people to move for nothing".

 

[mpthomson]

Given that Sunak has already repeatedly peed off the Speaker it will be interesting to see if he acts....


Rishi Sunak has not won an election for anything but his own Parliamentary seat....

Neither has any Prime Minister…

 

[SteveM70]

So reading between the lines, the new "station" in Bradford would be a tram-stop along Market Street between Interchange & Forster Sqaure. This could then be sold as both Crossrail and a new station....

…..and if they stuck a defibrillator in the shelter it would count as one of the 40 new hospitals too

 

[Bantamzen]

…..and if they stuck a defibrillator in the shelter it would count as one of the 40 new hospitals too

Ha ha, don't given them ideas!!

 

[mpthomson]

One of those cwses where it us worth it even if you lose as it gobbles up a lot of time and there isn't that much time before the next election.

You would think Starmer as a Lawyer would be pursuing such a strategy.

Starmer doesn’t want HS2 (never has) and has already said that he won’t resurrect it. This is a win win for him, he gets what he wants but Sunak has saved him the bother of cancelling it.

 

[A0wen]

Sad. It has been so obvious for too long that entering into a procurement so far ahead of track is bonkers. What on earth did DfT think it was doing locking in the full quantity on a project with so many uncertainties.. surely that can't be so.

Well OK - how would YOU have run the project ?

I love all the 'armchair' experts on this forum who have never run projects with their oppobrium of people who actually do it on a day to day basis.

Disclosure - I've been managing projects albeit in the IT field for over 10 years - there are times when in any project you have to make some 'risk based' decisions if you ever stand a chance of hitting the aspriational timescale - in a project like this, I can well believe some early land purchases was one of those things, given if you have to enact some form of 'Compulsory Purchase Order' that can take months if not years by the time it's gone through the process and the objections - same with the planning cycle.

If I understand your position you're saying you should have your design all fully bottomed out before even starting the procurement activity - given that in pretty much any project the design is continually reviewed throughout the project's life for very good reasons, sometimes because the world changes and so do the requirements, sometimes because as you progress into build you discover things which weren't fully understood (because you can't cover *every* scenario) so you have to make changes - what you're proposing would be a project eternally in design and never progressing. That's utter madness.

It’s not just road or rail. Almost ALL infrastructure in this country is neutered by nimbys, lunatic pressure groups and the spineless politicians who pander to them. Third runway at Heathrow a good example. Should have been built years ago.

Well OK - you can go down the French or Chinese route of allowing development with less oversight and control if you like. Though I'd be very careful what you wish for.

For many on these boards (and others) who were saying HS2 should just "bulldoze" its way through the countryside, destroying communities and everything in its wake, a question - does this "free pass" on development control extend to everything, or is it just rail because you like trains ? So extending the local airport should get a similar "free pass" to the one you think HS2 should have got ? Not sure the people in Luton and most of North Herts would agree, given Luton council's aspirations for their airport. What about motorways ? Hospitals ? Should all of these just get built without any form of recourse for those negatively impacted ? And if you're going to allow that level of 'laissez faire' on planning, what about when your neighbour wants to build a huge extension on their house ? So you shouldn't be able to object ?

Labour has to choose to either restart and build a new rail plan, continue with Sunaks nonsense which is his own rogue pet project with made up budgets and no business cases, or resume HS2. I think resuming HS2 is clearly the better option, even with the added costs, it being real not least the top reason.

The only way Labour could justify re-starting HS2 would be if the budget could be fixed (which will never happen with a large infrastructure project like this, because costs always go up and what are you going to do when the budget runs out ? Terminate the line at some buffer stops in the middle of a field ? And if you think you'll save money by only letting 'fixed price' contracts - good luck with that, contractors routinely add a %age onto Fixed Price contracts and this one would be a *very* high %age - it also means if there were *any* change to the scope - and I mean any change, moving the track 6' to the left, then the contractor will immediately say the contract has changed and charge for the change. And Labour would also need to prove the business case for HS2 stacks up - my guess is the government has canned this having looked at those figures and worked out that HS2 will not only cost billions to build it will cost billions to run for the next 100 years - and unless Labour turn the criteria for assessig the business case on its head (which would be a ridiculous way to go) they'll never make the numbers add up.

My prayers go out to all those who have put such care into a project only for it to be cast aside so callously.

I would do your utmost to remain upbeat. The national conversation is all about rail still. The random projects of line improvements and electrification will still be needing people to work on them, even as I maintain the full high speed rail (HSR) programme is still to play for.

Mine don't - and I work on projects. Anyone who works on a project knows (or certainly ought to) that a project is a transient 'here today, gone tomorrow' entity. You are entirely beholden to the project sponsor / owner as to whether it actually proceeds. In some ways I'm quietly impressed that the government has actually binned this one - too often big projects don't get binned when the numbers stop adding up, usually because somebody senior is trying to save face so the project limps on demanding more and more money, never quite delivering its original scope or aspirations, eventually "something" gets delivered which cost far too much and doesn't deliver the benefits. I wish in my life in projects a few senior people had done what Sunak has - yes they'd have taken some oppobrium from some people, but it would have been a much better outcome all round if they'd actually recognised that rather than flogging on with a Frankenstein project, better to kill it and do something else.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

If we look at what position Labour will be in next year and what hs2 will look like then I think it’s clear to see that they basically have only one rational choice:

Like has been said previously, repealing HS2 phase 2a will be in the House of Lords with a month or so left at minimum, the land will have been sold but compulsory purchase powers are still there and the contracts terminated.

Euston probably won’t have changed much either. Keep in mind that the “Network North” funding package is 2029-2041

Labour has to choose to either restart and build a new rail plan, continue with Sunaks nonsense which is his own rogue pet project with made up budgets and no business cases, or resume HS2. I think resuming HS2 is clearly the better option, even with the added costs, it being real not least the top reason.

Starmer has already stated Labour wont be reinstating HS2 phase 2 and will stick with the new Tory proposals according to FT

Starmer said that the UK prime minister’s handling of HS2 had been “a fiasco”, but asked whether a Labour government would save the project, he said: “I can’t stand here and commit to reversing that decision.”

They need to come four square behind the new regional rail transport improvements at next weeks Labour party conference so those projects can be mobilised for early design and development.

 

[gg1]

Starmer has already stated Labour wont be reinstating HS2 phase 2 and will stick with the new Tory proposals according to FT

Starmer said that the UK prime minister’s handling of HS2 had been “a fiasco”, but asked whether a Labour government would save the project, he said: “I can’t stand here and commit to reversing that decision.”

That's not a statement that he won't be reinstating phase 2, it's a fence sitting statement designed to avoid expressing a strong opinion one way or the other.

 

[Meerkat]

Seems like some people want to repeat HS2 problems.
it was easy to cancel as there was so much opposition. Now before any real detail has come out people are saying Network North is rubbish and won’t happen etc, which could be a self fulfilling prophesy.
More constructive to pick out the most sensible proposed schemes in each area and push for them to happen as soon as possible. Pat the government on the head a bit , “oh yes, this is a great idea, let’s get it done straight away!”, and then concentrate on delivering them quickly and efficiently such that future governments think money for rail projects is politically great.

Time to move on. HS2 beyond Handsacre is dead, and Labour is in no hurry to open that unpopular box again, and now has no money for it without cancelling Network North.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Seems like some people want to repeat HS2 problems.
it was easy to cancel as there was so much opposition. Now before any real detail has come out people are saying Network North is rubbish and won’t happen etc, which could be a self fulfilling prophesy.
More constructive to pick out the most sensible proposed schemes in each area and push for them to happen as soon as possible. Pat the government on the head a bit , “oh yes, this is a great idea, let’s get it done straight away!”, and then concentrate on delivering them quickly and efficiently such that future governments think money for rail projects is politically great.

Time to move on. HS2 beyond Handsacre is dead, and Labour is in no hurry to open that unpopular box again, and now has no money for it without cancelling Network North.

Spot on better to have dozens of local people through their elected representatives pushing to get on with these schemes which should have been the priority in the first place.

 

[LLivery]

President Macron stopped work on all new LGV projects upon his inauguration in 2017, saying that the focus would be on developing the classic network instead. He has since reverse ferreted - Montpellier to Béziers has now been approved and Bordeaux to Toulouse restarted. To be fair, Toulouse is quite complex - tricky quadrupling of the classic main-line in an urban area towards Montauban and expansion of Matabiau station.

See my post above about how the French view environmental issues when doing big infra. Bluntly they don’t, so they don’t spend/waste (delete as appropriate to your view) colossal sums of money on environmental consultants and environment impact assessments. They just build what they need to build.

Quote from French minister about public consultation - ‘You don’t talk to the frogs when draining the swamp’.


Re your last point; also much more about the French attitude towards public consultation and property, which is very relevant to this.


Re your last point; also much more about the French attitude towards public consultation and property, which is very relevant to this.

As I said previously he’ll secretly be pleased that Sunak has announced it as it saves him having to do it once he’s elected .


As ever it’s worthwhile noting that HS2 won’t be a big consideration in the GE for the majority of people, this forum is a bit of a bubble in that respect because of its area of interest.

The general population will be far more bothered by NHS, economy (particularly interest rates) and immigration type issues. HS2 will be a long way down a long list on the doorsteps.

Funnily enough, SNCF have just been told to do better with its environmental study for Bordouex - Toulouse
https://www.railtech.com/policy/202...-billion-euro-sncf-reseau-high-speed-project/

SNCF Réseau needs the green light from the French environmental agency before breaking ground on the construction of a 14 billion euro project, extending the high-speed track linking Paris to Bordeaux on two new lines. However, the governmental organisation not only rejected the application but also delivered a harsh critique of SNCF Réseau’s proposal.


The large construction project, named Grand Projet ferroviaire du Sud-Ouest (GPSO), will extend the high-speed track linking Paris to Bordeaux the two new lines Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax. SNCF Réseau expects 5 million additional passengers per year on these lines. Construction on the first stage, the creation of the 327 new kilometres of high-speed lines connecting Bordeaux to Toulouse and to Dax, was set to begin at the end of the year, but will now be delayed due to a hiccup in the permitting process. Indeed, on 7 September 2023, the French environmental agency (Autorité Environnementale, AE) handed down a decision, indicating that further studies will have to be done by SNCF Réseau before the project can be approved.

According to the AE, “For both the rail developments north of Toulouse and the GPSO, the content of the project is insufficiently analysed and is not yet complete.” The AE report further states that “many data are obsolete (almost ten years old), [which] leads the AE to note that the file, by focusing on a dated regulatory approach, is incomplete on multiple substantive issues (artificialization, greenhouse gases, natural environments) and does not make it possible to inform the public on the evolution of the project and its impacts.” As such the AE will only be able to re-examine the project file if it is presented again by SNCF Réseau, with an updated impact study, carried out in line with the French environment code.

SNCF Réseau responds​

In a press release, SNCF Réseau assures that “In accordance with the procedure set out in the French environment code, SNCF Réseau has produced an in-depth study of almost 7,000 pages, presenting in detail the major environmental challenges facing the project. The dossier submitted to the Environmental Authority includes an updated impact study (2022) for the AFNT, a component of the Grand Projet ferroviaire du Sud- Ouest (GPSO). Particular attention has been paid to updating the fauna and flora inventories, as well as to hydraulic issues.”

SNCF Réseau has said that it will take the AE’s comments into account during the other phases of the GPSO project, particularly the ‘Aménagements Ferroviaires au Sud de Bordeaux’ (AFSB), and will continue to aim for the earliest possible completion of a much-awaited project. SNCF Réseau has not however communicated more detail as to how long commissioning a new study will take, leaving much uncertainty around the effect of this hiccup on the project timeline. It seems unlikely that construction will be able to begin by 2024, for the commissioning of the line by 2030, as was originally planned.

Grand Projet ferroviaire du Sud- Ouest (GPSO)​

The new Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax lines, is the first phase of the GPSO project, and will entail the creation of the new 327 kilomètres high-speed lines Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax. The new lines have a common trunk of 55 kilometres between the south of Bordeaux and the south of Gironde. These new lines connect to the national rail network south of Bordeaux, north of Toulouse, and north of Dax. The GPSO aims to increase the number of passengers per day in the region by 20 per cent, going from around 125,000 to 150,000 in the area.

Following this, rail upgrades will take place south of Bordeaux (aménagements ferroviaires au sud de Bordeaux, AFSB). More specifically, this second stage is the completion of the railway improvements to the existing Bordeaux-Sète line south of Bordeaux (AFSB) over 12 kilometres between Bègles and Saint-Médard-d’Eyrans, in Gironde. Finally, the third stage will take place north of Toulouse (aménagements ferroviaires au nord de Toulouse, AFNT). It involves the construction of the railway improvements to the existing Bordeaux-Sète line north of Toulouse (AFNT) over 19 kilometres between Toulouse Matabiau station and Castelnau d’Estrétefonds in Haute-Garonne. These developments involve laying additional tracks to allow more trains to run while redeveloping suburban stations and stops.

The project will also increase the speed of travel between cities in the area considerably: Toulouse and Bordeaux will be 1h05 away by 2030. With shorter journey times, high-speed lines reduce distances in the South-West. New high-speed services will also connect a network of towns within 30 minutes to 1h30 of Bordeaux. The GPSO will have a positive carbon balance after 10 years thanks to the modal shift from air and road to rail. Indeed, it should avoid 4.3 million car journeys after the first phase of development up to Dax, and 7.7 million once the project is fully completed.

Financing the GPSO​

According to the prefecture of the Occitanie Region: “In 2022, the GPSO project entered a new phase: the financing plan of the various partners was validated and the project company, intended to finance the share of the 24 territorial authorities concerned, was set up. The GPSO is a 14-billion project, financed by the State and the local authorities of the New Aquitaine and Occitania regions, as well as the European Union. This figure includes studies, works and land acquisitions for the new Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax lines, as well as the rail improvements south of Bordeaux (AFSB) and north of Toulouse (AFNT).

The Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed line will cost 6.6 billion euros and the Bordeaux-Dax high-speed line will cost 1.9 billion euros. The estimated costs for the creation of the Bordeaux-Toulouse new line, the rail developments south of Bordeaux (AFSB) and the rail developments north of Toulouse (AFNT) amount to 10.3 billion euro, while the creation of the new line to Dax will cost 3.7 billion euro. The funding is divided as follows: 40 per cent for the State (4.1 billion euros), 40 per cent for the local authorities (4.1 billion euros) and 20 per cent in subsidies from the European Union.

It's not as easy as we like to think in France these days. But they still manage to get these things done. It says a lot that Ile-de-France can do 4 new Metro lines and the two line 14 extensions as part of Grand Paris Express, RER E, several tram lines and line 11 extension all at once, while HS2 is too much for us.