More marches over Bordeaux rail line

DEMONSTRATORS against the planned €6bn high-speed rail links between Bordeaux, Toulouse and Spain will take part in a protest in Bayonne, south of Biarritz, on December 13.

Up to 3,000 people, according to protest organisers (1,000 by police figures), turned out for a march in Agen against the project.

The protests are being led by Coordination 47, which believes rail authorities and planners should concentrate on upgrading the current line running between Bordeaux and Toulouse.

The current plans (which can be inspected at http://tinyurl.com/LGVplan) involve a line from Bordeaux which will fork, with one line heading south to Spain and another to Toulouse.

Coordination 47 believes that upgrading current lines would cause less environmental damage, cost less and would better serve the local population than the construction of new lines.

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