Corruption probe over re-routed TGV

A FORMER civil servant has been placed under formal investigation amid claims he put pressure on the transport ministry to change the proposed route of a high-speed rail line to avoid his property.

François-Gilles Egretier was working as an advisor to Christine Lagarde in the finance ministry in 2010 when the initial route for the TGV from Bordeaux to Spain was unveiled.

It is reported that the line passed directly through the family home in Uchacq-et-Parentis, near Mont-de-Marsan in the Landes.

A year later, track operator Reseau Ferré de France published a revised route, passing three kilometres further to the north.

Residents affected by the second route began legal action claiming a conflict of interest.

Local newspaper Sud Ouest has published a series of emails that it claims show evidence that Egretier received correspondence from officials at RFF and the transport ministry.

He denies wrongdoing and says he was wrongly copied into emails that did not concern him.

His lawyer declined to comment when approached by the paper.