SYSTRA selected by SNCF Réseau for the New Southwest Line

SYSTRA France has been selected for the general and technical project management assistant (AMO) contract for the entire New Southwest Line (LNSO) by GPSO (SNCF Réseau), the project owner. Our teams will be involved in all phases of the design and construction of this new line, which will reduce travel times between the major cities in the southwest of the country.

At SYSTRA France, we are proud to have supported our client SNCF for many years, with whom we share an ambitious and sustainable vision of rail mobility. This trusting, long-term collaboration perfectly illustrates our commitment to contributing to structuring projects that serve local communities and their residents. Our teams based in Toulouse and Bordeaux are particularly pleased to contribute to the realisation of this magnificent project.

Éric de Balincourt, CEO of SYSTRA France

The award of this project, one of the largest intellectual property services contracts ever concluded by SNCF, is a strong recognition of our expertise and a positive signal for local employment. This contract also demonstrates the confidence placed in SYSTRA’s expertise in managing complex projects, particularly in high-speed rail, and in our commitment to developing sustainable, innovative projects that create value for territories.

Annelise Baudouin, Director of FIT (Railways), SYSTRA France

We are counting on SYSTRA’s recognised expertise and excellence to help us implement this major project, which is driven by innovation, environmental ambition, and performance.

Christophe Huau, Director of the GPSO Agency at SNCF Réseau

Population growth in the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions and the desire to improve daily and long-distance mobility through rapid, low-carbon solutions have made this project necessary. The LNSO will strengthen the rail network at the local, national, and European levels. The contract with SYSTRA was signed thanks to financing by the state, the territoiral authorities, and the European Union.

Nearly a decade of commitment at all stages

SYSTRA’s hundred or so employees, primarily located in Bordeaux and Toulouse, will bring a wide range of expertise and skills. Until 2034, SYSTRA France will be responsible for accompanying the GPSO for:

• Defining the functional and technical programme,
• Leading the administrative, financial, and environmental management of the project,
• Ensuring compliance with budgetary and deadline commitments,
• Implementing innovative technologies and ensuring a high level of environmental performance on the project.

The first stage of the project will be the finalisation of the Bordeaux-Toulouse link programme, in order to prepare the design-build tenders to come.

A new high-speed line essential for completing the regional network

This new high-speed line, an extension of the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line, which opened in 2017, will create a new, fast and reliable link between the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions, as far as Montpellier and Perpignan, the Mediterranean, and between France and Bayonne and Spain at Irun. The two branches Bordeaux-Dax and Bordeaux-Toulouse will also be connected to each other, providing a unique direct Toulouse-Spain line.

he result will be higher frequency and more direct connections, with reduced journey times:

The entire route will be over 400km long, in a Y-shape. This line, dedicated entirely to passengers, will ease the existing line, allowing for the development of freight traffic and a greater number of regional express trains (TER), notably as part of the metropolitan regional express services (SERM) planned for the Bordeaux and Toulouse metropolitan areas.

The project also includes the redevelopment of the railway network north of Toulouse, on which SYSTRA France has been involved since 2021 as full project manager.

SYSTRA, half a century of high-speed expertise

A pioneer in high-speed rail since the 1980s, SYSTRA has contributed to the design of half of the high-speed rail lines in service or under construction worldwide (excluding China). The last twelve months have been particularly rich in commercial successes, with the design studies for the California high-speed rail line in the United States, the project management assistance for the Tangier-Marrakech link in Morocco, the preliminary studies for Australia’s first high-speed rail line, not to mention the success of the Cadence consortium in the design and construction of the Alto project, Canada’s first high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. For several years, the Group has also been involved in the HS2 programmes in the United Kingdom, Ostlänken in Sweden, and Naples-Cancello in Italy.

But it is in France that expertise in high-speed rail has been most evident, with a contribution to each of the high-speed rail projects carried out in France. After delivering the South Europe Atlantic link in 2017, which put Bordeaux 2 hours and 3 minutes from Paris, and the first new mixed line in France with the Nîmes-Montpellier bypass, SYSTRA is involved in the vast signalling renewal programme for the Paris-Lyon line. This high-speed rail line, one of the busiest in the world, is currently being migrated to the interoperable ERTMS level 2 system, due in 2026, with the aim of increasing safety and operational reliability, and running up to 16 trains per hour in each direction by 2030.

Key features – New Southwest Line

• 418km of new lines, including:
• 12km of rail upgrades to the south of Bordeaux (AFSB)
• 19km of rail upgrades to the north of Toulouse (AFNT)
• 3 stations and 2 new stops
• 110 communities crossed
• 12 million inhabitants benefiting from improved services to their area
• 10,000 jobs created
• Entry into service:
• New Bordeaux-Toulouse line: 2032, followed by the Sud-Gironde – Dax section of the LGV.