opponents evacuated near the construction site, north of Toulouse

The gendarmerie operation targeted “La Guinguette vaillante”, a place presented as a ZAD in the sector.

Opponents of the Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV were evacuated on Wednesday January 22, near the construction site north of Toulouse, announced “ici Occitanie” (formerly France Bleu). The gendarmerie operation, which began around 7:30 a.m. according to activists, targeted a place called “La Guinguette vaillante”, presented as a ZAD (zone to be defended) in the sector, in the town of Saint-Jory, in Haute-Garonne .

These environmental activists, installed on the ground and in the trees, want to defend this wooded sector, land owned by the SNCF where a water retention basin should be installed, one of the pieces of equipment necessary for the installation of railway developments in northern Toulouse. (AFNT).

During this operation, 12 arrests took place, specifies the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie. “Around sixty gendarmes and members of the Cnamo [Cellule nationale d’appui à la mobilité] are on site, and the priority is the safety of the activists perched in the trees, there is still a man and a woman installed at a height”; further details from the gendarmerie on Wednesday afternoon.

The railway developments in northern Toulouse are the first part of what is considered the biggest French transport project of the next ten years: the major South-West railway project, which provides for the creation of the Toulouse- Bordeaux, work on which was launched on May 7, 2024.

Opponents deplore a dangerous project for biodiversity, particularly for populations of amphibians and especially bats, in full hibernation.