It is a 70.4 million euro project which will save the Limoges-Poitiers line in two stages, but which will considerably disrupt the lives of Haut-Viennois residents used to reaching Poitiers by train.
Since Monday, December 2, 2024, and until September 2025, a renewal of the railway track is underway on the section going from Saint-Benoît to Lathus-Saint-Rémy, in Vienne.
For what work?
A replacement of rails, sleepers and ballasts is planned over 20 km, while hydraulic and sanitation works on the railway platform extend over 35 km.
Between Le Dorat and Limoges, trains run normally, but experience timetable changes. Replacement buses are set up between Le Dorat and Poitiers.
“Particular attention is paid to ensuring TGV connections at Poitiers station,” provide the SNCF network services, adding that a bus stop has been set up in front of the Montmorillon agricultural high school (Vienne).
-During POLT work
The project is all the worse because it partly takes place during the same period of work which will prevent the Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) trains from accessing and returning from the capital during the day, between August 2025 and January 2026 – disruptions will even begin as early as April. For Haut-Viennois who hoped to pass through Poitiers to reach Paris, this is one less possibility.
The second part of the project in 2026 and 2027
A second section of Limoges-Poitiers will undergo similar work between August 2026 and 2027, this time between Lathus-Saint-Rémy and Limoges, which will again require a cut in the line.
For SNCF network, the objective of the operation is to “restore the nominal performance” of the line, in other words to avoid its closure and eliminate speed limitations. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which pays more than half of the bill, had also estimated that fifteen to twenty minutes could be saved after the work on the entire line.
“We would then like to see if we can have Limoges-Poitiers trains which can have a connection with a Poitiers-Paris TGV,” explained the vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Renaud Lagrave, ahead of the project.
