The LGV Montpellier–Perpignan is a proposed

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

line between the French cities of

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

and

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, at which points they will link with the

Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier The Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier (English: "Nîmes – Montpellier Bypass"), also known as the LGV Nîmes–Montpellier (French: LGV for ''ligne à grande vitesse''), is a French high-speed railway line, bypassing the cities of Nîmes an ...

and

LGV Perpignan–Figueres LGV may refer to: Transportation and vehicles * Large goods vehicle, Europe * Laser Guided Vehicle * Light goods vehicle, Hong Kong * ''Lignes à Grande Vitesse'', French high-speed rail lines: ** LGV Atlantique ** LGV Est ** LGV Interconnexion ...

. Two new stations would be constructed as part of the project in

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

and

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

–

and

Rivesaltes Rivesaltes (; ca, Ribesaltes, which means the ''high shores'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Rivesaltes is in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. ...

–

Toulouges Toulouges (; ca, Toluges, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Toulouges is located between Thuir and Perpignan, in the canton of Perpignan-6 and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. The town cove ...

will be for mixed traffic (freight and passenger), with Béziers–Toulouges being for passenger traffic only.

Route

Shortly after Montpellier-Sud de France station, trains will meet the LGV Montpellier–Perpignan near

Maurin Maurin is a surname, and may refer to: * Antoine Maurin (1771–1830), French cavalry commander. * Antoine Maurin (1793–1860), French lithographer. * Charles Maurin (1856–1914), French painter, engraver, and an anarchist. * Eva Maurin (1993), ...

. A parkway station serving Béziers near the A9 and A75 junction is planned. There will also be a classic line allowing trains to call at

Béziers station The ''gare de Béziers'' (in occitan: ''Gara de Besièrs'') is the railway station that serves the town of Béziers in the Hérault ''département'' of southern France. It is on the Bordeaux–Sète railway The railway from Bordeaux to Sète ...

, from which trains can then continue to destinations such as

and

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

before the Béziers-Perpignan section is complete, through trains in the direction of Perpignan will need to use the parkway station, as there is no link on the other side of Béziers. The urban centre of

will be bypassed, but a station will be constructed to the west of the urban centre. This station will be built over the classic line, allowing platform transfers to the line to Carcassonne, as is the case at Valence TGV station. There will also be a triangle junction to the north of this station allowing the line to link with the line to Carcassonne without passing through the urban centre. The planned line will offer bypasses of all the cities, with link railways to enable connections with existing stations at various points. Passive provision has been made for a connection with the existing

LGV Perpignan-Figueres LGV may refer to: Transportation and vehicles * Large goods vehicle, Europe * Laser Guided Vehicle * Light goods vehicle, Hong Kong * ''Lignes à Grande Vitesse'', French high-speed rail lines: ** LGV Atlantique ** LGV Est ** LGV Interconnexion ...

line near Toulouges. Ultimately, the goal is to allow the connection Paris - Madrid in six hours by 2025, with stops in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, Montpellier, Béziers, Narbonne, Perpignan and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The journey time would be less competitive with the plane on the complete route, but could be rather on intermediate routes, such as Lyon - Madrid or Paris - Barcelona.

Progress

In February 2016 the preliminary high-speed route and station locations were approved by the French transport ministry . In autumn 2018, timescales were announced, namely 10 years to construct the Montpellier-Béziers section and another 10 years to construct the Béziers-Perpignan section. On 22 January 2022 a memorandum of understanding for the financing of the line was signed. Under this agreement the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region and ten other local authorities pay 40% of the € 2 billion cost. The national government contributes the other 40% and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

20%. After this agreement a public inquiry process will be started. The agreement for the start of preliminary work on the first section is expected to be given on 27 July 2023. This first section runs for 52.3 km from Montpellier to Béziers. The expected start of construction was pushed back further, with construction on the first section to begin by early 2030. The first section is expected to be operational around 2034. The construction of the second section would follow around 2040. The second section covers the remainder of the route and is 97.7 km long.

References

Proposed railway lines in France High-speed railway lines in France Railway lines in Occitania (administrative region) Transport in Montpellier Perpignan {{France-rail-transport-stub