Three months after the green light for the railway developments north of Toulouse, the South-West railway project wants to continue on the right track. The project owner SNCF Réseau submitted at the end of February the request for environmental authorization for the creation of a third railway line south of Bordeaux: a 13 km long project, with an area of 22 hectares and estimated at 758 million euros, which must last at least eight years. While awaiting the prefect’s decision, the Environmental Authority issued its opinion on April 25.
The authority was able to examine a very dense file which gives rise to several satisfactions, whereas the previous examination on the subject of AFNT had revealed numerous gaps. “The project owner took care to draw the consequences of the Ae’s opinion on the similar AFNT “project”. The file, as a whole, addresses several aspects in a satisfactory manner and even sometimes at an unusual level in impact studies.we read.
A doubt of public interest
Surprising inadequacies given the thickness of the file were nevertheless noted. In particular the absence of study on the new transport offer and the modal shift induced by the future infrastructure. Which is valid for a “regulatory non-compliance” warns the Ae. “Without a travel study it is not possible to accurately assess the impacts of transport, particularly on greenhouse gas emissions, noise, atmospheric pollution and human health. » An observation which motivates the consultative body to ask to take up the compelling reasons which give the project a public interest.
The GPSO program, which provides for the creation of two high-speed lines to connect Bordeaux to Toulouse and Dax in particular thanks to the AFSB, obtained a declaration of public utility on November 25, 2015. This was extended by five years in 2022. But this status is not enough according to the Ae. Enough to recall the reprimand addressed by eight Girondin parliamentarians last December: “ The extensive and constructive discussions that we had with SNCF Réseau lead us to express serious doubts as to the real usefulness of AFSB », They wrote then. According to the project leaders, the new infrastructure is nevertheless essential to accommodate the LGV, the future Metropolitan RER and support the relaunch – announced many times – of rail freight.
The rail highway between Bayonne and Cherbourg will wait until 2025
Shortcomings regarding biodiversity and noise
The other issue for attention concerns the impacts on fauna and flora. “ The “biodiversity” section only includes a very partial summary of the approach developed in the “protected species” exemption request. », notes the Ae while 97 species classified as such are concerned in the area. SNCF Réseau says it will be able to bring together 100% of the land dedicated to compensation for destroyed spaces by September. But also recognizes that it cannot avoid an ecological debt for three species: the European mink, the European pond turtle and the natterjack toad. Only 0.3% of the project budget is dedicated to compensation and avoidance.
Compensating for land artificialization: the impossible challenge of high-speed lines to Toulouse and Dax
On the noise side, the authority regrets that the acoustic study is not present in the project owner’s file while 177 buildings are exposed to significant noise pollution. “The “noise” aspect is based on assumptions and implicit reasoning which does not make it possible to ensure that the regulations are correctly applied and, a fortiori, to guarantee equitable protection of local residents when it is a major issue of the project »mentions the Ae.
A railway junction south of Bordeaux?
Beyond the admonitions, the notice relays in detail the scope of the work to come. Six new road bridges, twelve bridges and three hydraulic structures to be widened, 24 rainwater storage structures, around ten diverted watercourses, 34 homes to be destroyed, 10 km of acoustic protection for a total of 12 hectares of agricultural or natural land to be artificialized, including six in wetlands. The operator Terega’s gas pipeline will also have to be diverted. SNCF Réseau plans to deploy its works base at the Hourcade marshalling yard, abandoned, three kilometers south of Bordeaux Saint-Jean station. The carbon impact of the project is estimated at 30,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 1% of the GPSO’s overall footprint.
Major operations, shared between urban and natural areas, which are causing concern among local elected officials and citizen groups opposed to the new lines. In January, they carried out a symbolic blockade on the first developments carried out in Saint-Médard-d’Eyrans. For high-speed promoters, on the other hand, AFSBs are not only essential for future routes but also for daily services. “GPSO or not, we will have to blow up the railway traffic jam to the south of Bordeaux as we did to the north! », launched a representative of transport users in December. This portion south of Bordeaux is promised to accommodate TER, RER Métropolitains, Intercités, TGV and freight trains. An important brick in several respects, but primarily for rolling out the red carpet for LGVs.
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