tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27589444.post7367752053687835691..comments2023-08-22T16:18:38.393+01:00Comments on Rail Thing - Friends of the S&D: paradigm shiftUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27589444.post-41002445860659839332010-04-28T16:44:30.586+01:002010-04-28T16:44:30.586+01:00Here in south west France just north of the Pyrene...Here in south west France just north of the Pyrenees they know which way the wind is blowing. Not content with the TGV line from Perpignan to Barcelona and then onto Madrid in the south, there will be an extension from Bordeaux via Biarritz to Santander (and thence to Madrid) on the north coast. Also a high speed line to Pau from Bordeaux. However the local Aquitaine authority started a new toll motorway from Bordeaux to Pau due to be completed at the end of the year. Best news is the reinstatement of the old railway line up the Apse Valley through the Somport tunnel through the Pyrenees to Canfranc linking Pau to Spain. This area was covered in various gauge lines from the 1800's and many of the tracks and buildings still exist such as from the town of Aire sur l'Adour to the north of us to Toulouse and to Tarbes and Lourdes. On lots of the roads you pass old stations which have converted into private houses. There doesn't seem to be the pressure to concrete over the old stations and build houses or supermarkets on them.chicofrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08065691161947421265noreply@blogger.com