While the return of the train to Villeneuve-sur-Lot is part of the political debates during this campaign before the legislative elections, a part of the rail history of the bastide has just resurfaced. On the night of Monday 24…
While the return of the train to Villeneuve-sur-Lot is part of the political debates during this campaign before the legislative elections, a part of the rail history of the bastide has just resurfaced. On the night of Monday June 24 to Tuesday June 25, while the full moon lit up Boulevard Georges-Leygues, Eurovia workers unearthed, while planing the road, a little more than two meters of rail. This is a piece of railway track dating from the beginning of the 20th century.e century, vestige of the late tramway, which, at the time, reached Villeréal from the bastide, via Monflanquin.
Jean-Louis Bouges
The technical services recovered the rails to bring them to the municipal technical center.
The rails remained on display on the roadway throughout the morning, arousing the curiosity of the Villeneuvois and in particular of Jean-Louis Bougès, head of the youth service, and passionate about the history of the train in Lot-et-Garonne. While the rails were intended for scrap dealers, called by the Eurovia company to clear the roads in the morning, the latter alerted the municipality. The technical services therefore came to collect them, to store them at the municipal technical center, thus preserving a piece of the railway heritage of the bastide. It seems that these two meters of wooden and metal beams are the only ones remaining on the old tramway route: “Perhaps our elders wanted to leave a piece of it, so that future generations do not forget that Villeneuve -sur-Lot was crossed by the rail,” suggests Jean-Louis Bougès.
Work on the boulevard will continue with the installation of two layers of gravel asphalt planned for the nights of Thursday June 27 to Friday June 28 and from Monday July 1 to Tuesday July 2. They will take place between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. During interventions, diversions will be put in place for all vehicles. The ground markings will be carried out a few days later, the boulevard will be ready for the passage of Tour de France cyclists on July 11. The construction site will be paused throughout the summer and will resume at the beginning of September.
