Sabotage: arson in a company working on the construction site of the future Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV

Several vehicles were burned in a fire on Saturday in a Lot-et-Garonne company working on the construction site of the future Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV, a contested railway project, we learned on Sunday from a source close to the investigation.

An anti-LGV tag was found and the theory of arson is favored, according to the same source.

Two construction vehicles were completely destroyed, another damaged, as was an administrative building of this company in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

The LGV Sud-Ouest project plans to connect Toulouse to Paris via Bordeaux in three hours and 10 minutes by 2032, then Bordeaux to Dax in 20 minutes less than currently, in 2034, towards Spain.

Opponents, environmental activists and certain local elected officials denounce the rising cost of the project and call for improving the existing network.

In mid-October, prior deforestation work was the subject of blocking actions in Gironde and legal actions contest the validity of the environmental authorizations issued.

The commissioning of the new line, initially planned for 2032 and 2034, would not take place before 2035 for its branch to Toulouse and 2042 for that to Dax, according to the latest forecasts from the Infrastructure Orientation Council.