These activists want to put an “emergency brake” on the LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse-Dax

Lerm-et-Musset (Gironde), report

Near the pavilion that was set up in this meadow surrounded by forests in the South Gironde, the people, dressed in black, are coming together. Forty-eight hours earlier, the meeting place was announced on a Telegram thread by the organizers of the event, the local group. LGV Ingratitude and Earth Revolution: a « private property » of Lerm-et-Musset, a small town with 500 inhabitants, a stone’s throw from Lot-et-Garonne, which would host the movement « emergency braking »from 11 to 13 October.

The situation is symbolic: 3 kilometers away, in the middle of the deciduous forest and conifers of the Gascony moors, the railway triangle of the high-speed line should be built (LGV) connects Bordeaux with Dax and Toulouse. On the 2.5 hectares lent by Philippe Barbedienne, vice president of Sepanso, an environmental protection association in New Aquitaine, between 1,000 and 1,500 people from all over France responded to the call from « Good game against LGV ».

Their first night was not the most peaceful. Around 3am, the protestors were woken up by a gendarmerie helicopter flying overhead, siren blowing and strobes aimed at the tents. Fireworks were then aimed at the helicopter.

Thirty years of struggle

Gathered under the base camp tent, sheltered from seasonal rain, the activists are ready to find out about the day’s program of action, announced « fair » etc « fun ». « Although the project is not yet funded, the destruction has begunsaid Léonie and Sylvie from the assembly LGV No thanks, as for him first works near Bordeaux and Toulouse. We must come together to apply emergency braking, or even an emergency stop. »

After thirty years of fighting against this massive railway project in the south west (GPS), the various anti-LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse-Dax, a year earlier, decided to ask Les Soulèvements de la Terre to organize a movement. « We want more visibility in the media, a move to a higher scale »explains Léonie, who is also a member of Desrailha’s society (« It is derailing »in Gascon). The pressure has increased in the past months on opponents, while the budget for the construction of the line is being negotiated at the European level and the European Union must contribute up to 20. %. The round table would then be closed.

« The LGVit is not done ! » the two activists sang in front of the crowd who read the program of little games proposed for the evening. An hour later, a procession of about 700 people left for a walk of more than an hour in the forest, bringing with them wooden beams, planks, enough to play Giga Kapla, as mentioned in the leaflet was distributed in the minutes.

The base camp regains its composure. Under the flags of the local associations of the assembly LGV There is no gratitude, there is fierce anger. Laurence, of the society LGV Nina (Neither here nor elsewhere), denies it « this absence when we already have lines ». Opponents would like the one that already connects Bordeaux to Toulouse, where it is TERIntercity and TGV at a leisurely, suitable pace. Shunts and development of fairways would improve circulation TGV at full speed possible, according to report of 2012. The cost of this change would be 5 billion euros, compared to 14 billion euros for the new line, without taking into account inflation over the past four years. Opponents believe that the real cost of this project is 18 billion euros.

To finance the project, the State will contribute up to 40 %, as many as 25 communities crossing the LGV. According to the convention LGV No thanks, the risk of going over budget is real and putting communities out of business. « financial risk »recorded in the financing plan of the GPS. So two applications were submitted, one by associations, the other by a group of elected officials, before the Toulouse administrative court in 2022 to cancel it.

Residents of communities less than an hour from one of the line’s stations must now pay a tax created specifically to finance the line: the special equipment tax (TSE). « It is an unfair tax, paid by people who watch the TGV without taking themconsidering Simon, Lot-et-Garonnais from Stop LGV 47, which reminds us that there are only 5 % of train journeys in France are made in TGV. On the assembly’s website, we are asking people to engage in tax disobedience. »

Context of budget austerity

« We need daily trains »said Antoine, member of Desrailha. The association that brings together the residents of La Réole, a Gironde association that is forty minutes by car from the line and is served by a railway line. TERgoverns movement against the LGV. « The lines are poorly maintained, the stations are not accessible for people with reduced mobilityhe wants. With 18 billion euros, what could we do for our regions ? »

Against the austerity policy announced by the Barnier government, Laurence, LGV Nina, think so « state funding for such a project with the current debt, one may wonder if it is wise ». But, reporting the day SouthwestCarlo Secchi, the coordinator of the trans-European transport network, specified a few days before that move « national investments for large infrastructures are no longer counted in the budget deficit [limité à] 3 % established by the Maastricht Treaty ».

The last financial unknown is still the participation of the European Union to tune 20 % you budget. « For this, it is necessary that the LGV reach Spain »Laurence’s comments. Against movementLGV in the Basque Country has been so great that a high-speed line in this part of France is no longer on the agenda.

A false situation, sweeping away Christian Broucaret, president of the National Federation of Transport User Associations (Fnaut) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, has contacted by phone. « Beyond Dax, trains will transfer to the classic line »he explains, so he will be able to reach Spain, even without him LGV. But it would be necessary to build the latter, still according to Christian Broucaret, to do that « unsatisfied rail traffic with future traffic expectations RER Basque-Landes ».

At the same time, about a hundred protesters were launched into the center of Bordeaux, bursting into the Saint-Jean station. Three activists were then arrested. Other groups left the base camp toLGV or tag the stations of the current Bordeaux-Toulouse line. The Giga Kapla parade begins to build a scene, on the place where one of the waterways that will cross the Ciron valley, a Natura 2000 type, will be built.

The construction site went almost flat. A gendarmerie car got stuck in the sand while monitoring the activities of the protesters. With threats from around twenty protestors, the two gendarmes fled, leaving their protective equipment in the car exposed. At the end of the evening, the last scene stands. « She tells those who want to build the building LGV : “We’re watching you !” » explains partner.

In song and on forest paths, the march returns to the base camp before starting an evening of entertainment and celebrations. The next evening, while 200 protestors were busy removing the camp, an investigation was carried out by the gendarmerie without arresting anyone or seizing anything.