The new fast line TGV rail connection being built between Poitiers and Bordeaux will complete the high speed rail link between Paris and Bordeaux allowing us to travel to Paris in just over 2 hours. Currently it takes about three hours to travel by train from Bordeaux to the capital.
Writing in the Economist earlier this year Schumpeter provided some details of this vast infrastructure project estimated to cost about 7.6 billion Euros. The giant construction company that are undertaking the project is Vinci who are part of the Artemis group which also owns luxury brands such as Christie’s that we at Maxwell-Baynes are a part of. Once completed Vinci will then also operate the new line with a contract through to 2016 according to Schumpeter.
He goes on to state that “Alain Juppé, mayor of Bordeaux and previously prime minister of France, is an enthusiast (unsurprisingly, perhaps, for Bordeaux will pay next to nothing for it). He thinks the number of rail passengers coming to his city will rise from 9m to 20m a year. He hopes to persuade some big companies to open national headquarters in Bordeaux; several have announced plans to move away from Paris recently. An urban makeover has already turned Bordeaux into a prime tourist destination.
Such potential benefits will be magnified when the next link in the high-speed network is put in place between Bordeaux and Toulouse (Bordeaux is home to a number of the aerospace companies that supply Airbus in the southern city). But work on that link will not begin before 2020, and another proposed extension—to Spain—has been postponed indefinitely.”
Bordeaux is a rising star and to those of us who have lived here locally it is only logical given all that we have seen in recent years. This rail project is the natural evolution of the confidence that is building around this magnificent European city and the world capital of the wine industry. This past week at Vinexpo was filled with optimism and enthusiasm for a future that is looking bright for Bordeaux.
Our tag line has always been: “ Bringing Bordeaux to the world and the world to Bordeaux” – as of 2017 there will be a lot more people coming to Bordeaux and the new TGV line will be bringing them.
To read the Economist Article click here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2014/01/high-speed-rail-france.