The government intends to circulate again, from 2024, a daily night train between Paris, Bordeaux, Dax, Bayonne, Orthez and Pau, announced, Tuesday, October 25, the Secretary of State in charge of ecology, Bérangère Couillard. Responding in the Senate to a question from Max Brisson (Les Républicains, Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Mme Couillard confirmed that a night train would link Paris to Aurillac again at the end of 2023.
“From 2024, the night train will serve Dax, Bayonne, Orthez and Pau daily, in addition to Lourdes and Tarbes”, she added. This route via Bordeaux would resurrect the “Palombe bleue”, a night connection canceled in 2011.
Decisions expected on the future network
In 2021, the State reopened the Paris-Nice and Paris-Tarbes-Lourdes links via Toulouse, the latter line being extended in summer to the Basque coast. It also financed the renovation of old existing cars on the Paris-Rodez – Latour-de-Carol – Cerbère and Paris-Briançon lines, which had survived the elimination of almost all night trains.
Mme Couillard further stated:
“Decisions must soon be taken on the consistency of the future night train network, the renewal of rolling stock, the terms of financing, with the prospect of opening up operations to competition within a few years. »
In December 2021, the Minister Delegate for Transport at the time, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, announced the creation by 2030 of new lines linking Paris to Albi, Bayonne and San Sebastian, to the Spanish Basque Country, Barcelona and also Toulouse, Montpellier and Marseilles. He had added the Metz-Geneva, Nice-Barcelona-Bordeaux and Bordeaux-Nice links.
Night trains, which are part of “territorial balance trains” (TET, more commonly called Intercités), are subsidized by the State and operated by the SNCF pending their competition. The latter made no comment.