France, Alternative Libertaire AL #227 - Great useless projects: LGV: do not give passage (fr)

3 years, in the Lot-et-Garonne mobilizing anti-LGV remains dynamic. Saturday, March 23 was 
held in Nerac (7 000) a demonstration against the new high-speed line collecting nearly 
2000 people. ---- The route of the high speed line (HSL) goes to the heart of the hills of 
Gascony leveled more than 1,000 ha of forest and destroyed farmland hills. A special 
feature of this mobilization is the range of participants: hunters environmentalists 
through the tenants of the name Buzet, smallholders and entrepreneurs to railway CGT union 
Solidarity ... not missing that political parties right and the PS supporters Great 
Unnecessary Projects. ---- A struggle of "terroir". ---- Early mobilization, anti-HSL 
association denounced the devastation of forests, natural areas and the destruction of 
farmland and vineyards.

She focused her argument on the prohibitive cost of nearly 10 billion euros that will 
result in a rise in local taxes and divert financial resources for the maintenance of 
train daily [less than 10% of travelers commuting use TGV]. Moreover for the 
Lot-et-Garonne, binding to 330 km / h between Bordeaux and Toulouse routes involve a 
reduction in the "intermediate" stations (Agen, Montauban). Finally, the funding a 
"public-private partnership" (PPP) where the majority of funding and risk are public while 
profits generated by operations are private, convinced the CGT union to oppose the project.

All of these approaches is the close of this unusual "convergence" of political and social 
forces. Three years later, the internal lines seem to move this motley gathering. Beyond 
the public information meetings and demonstrations regular street, an alternative study 
comparing project R?seau Ferr? de France and modernization of the current 
Bordeaux-Toulouse was performed. While this modernization would not circulate the TGV 330 
km / h only 250 km / h. But this alternative would cost five times less expensive, does 
not "require" no "PPP" and would only result in an increase of about fifteen minutes of 
travel time between Bordeaux and Toulouse, compared to the new LGV.

Today Coordination 47 anti-HSL coordinates with all environmental struggles of the 
department, and in particular with the Collective against airport Notre-Dame-des-Landes. 
And speech challenging the capitalist foundations of this project go more than three years 
ago.

Project against the local population

Because obviously the fifteen minutes saved between Toulouse and Bordeaux does not 
convince the lot-et-Garonne who understand that will pay to provide a large multinational 
construction site, generating huge profits. And through the PPP to ensure those profits 
over a long period.

As to the question of land, the new LGV has meaning only as a link in a South Grand link 
to link major European cities and will continue to suck almost all economic development in 
favor of the latter at the expense of rural areas and towns. This mobilization is also a 
refusal to increased isolation, acceleration of rural depopulation and economic hardship 
department. A victory against the LGV Bordeaux-Toulouse is possible. But this will require 
further expand the mobilization and, beyond the protection of nature and human interests 
jostled by the project to expose publicly capitalist challenges of this project.

Jacques Dubart (AL Agen)