SNCF Voyageurs is considering the feasibility of a daily round trip by TGV between Bordeaux and Lyon, via Paris, by Ouigo, by 2027. This project, which would exclude Auvergne, provokes the anger of users, but not only that.
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We knew the diagonal of the void. SNCF Voyageurs proves once again that this is not an urban legend. In fact, it is studying the feasibility of a daily round trip between Bordeaux and Lyon…via Paris, by TGV Ouigo, by 2027. According to information from the New Republicthe stations of Poitiers, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and Massy would be served. The SNCF is counting on just over a million passengers per year with this new route. This prospect should be confirmed at the end of November 2025.
This reflection excludes Auvergne from this project, while, on paper, a Bordeaux-Clermont-Ferrand-Lyon connection is possible. Julien Vannier, spokesperson for the collective of Auvergne train users, is angry with this project: “We see that we are really in a landlocked area. Even if we have a direct route, we will always favor the loop via Paris in the end. Excluding the Massif Central in this way is the symbol of a lack of maintenance and investment for years” According to the spokesperson, a connection via Clermont-Ferrand between Aquitaine and Ile-de-France would be “logic” He insists: “We are the poor relations of the railways in France. We remain in a logic of all TGV and profitability. We would like this logic of avoiding the Massif Central to no longer be in the order of things”.
Fréderic Aguilera, vice-president (LR) of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in charge of transport, also has difficulty hiding his annoyance following this information from our colleagues. He would like to point out that no railway track will be created. A TGV could pass on the tracks. He emphasizes: “We have been campaigning for several years now for what we call a territorial balance train, a TET, between Lyon and Bordeaux via the Massif Central. But the two connections are not contradictory. The TGV connection has an advantage: it is much faster and above all it allows people from Lyon to quickly reach Bordeaux. The Massif Central connection would be slower, but it has the advantage of serving many more towns and serving the Massif Central. I think the two can coexist.” The chosen one is embarrassed by the fact that‘”they always examine as a priority the opening of TGV links“. The main obstacle to the reactivation of the TET is the state of the infrastructure. The lines in the Massif Central are often considered to be in poor condition, not electrified and single track. Hundreds of millions of euros would have to be invested to renovate these lines, estimates the mayor of Vichy. Frédéric Aguilera thinks that a TET between Lyon and Bordeaux could be possible by 2030.
He mentions the lithium line project as an argument that could weigh in the balance: “The lithium mine project in Allier needs a freight line which today is the old line between Montluçon and Gannat. The State would like the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region to support it in this work. We have put in consideration the examination of the reopening of the TET. This has been verbalized and written for several months”.
When contacted, SNCF Voyageurs indicated: “We make no comment on this matter. We constantly analyze the potential for link developments“We will have to wait until the end of the month to find out if the SNCF project is confirmed.