Why a direct train to Bordeaux could solve UK-France transport issues

The Man Who Pays His Way: A direct rail link from London to Southwest France has been mooted, but who will answer the call?

From Lille in the breezy north to Perpignan, blushing in the sunny south, French cities are easy to enjoy. Cobbled lanes embroider the historic core, punctuated by pretty places that are decked with flowers and flanked with cafes.

Add a grand cathedral, an impressive art museum, a busy market and a rue or two of haute couture, and you have the essential ingredients for a weekend escape.

Bordeaux excels, though, with dimensions beyond the city centre. In the 1920s, an enlightened industrialist named Henry Frugès commissioned Le Corbusier to create a community of cubic houses in the southwestern suburb of Pessac. Nine decades on, Cité Frugès still comprises a design for life that offers space, light and a sense of order. Time and trees have softened the sharp edges, and Unesco has inscribed the quartier on the World Heritage List.

If, instead, you venture north, the vineyards of Médoc start immediately beyond the city at Blanquefort.

Much to adore; you simply need to get there. Which, right now, is far from simple.

Eurostar passengers and French rail travellers find themselves caught up in an existential battle over working conditions between state and unions. Hostilities are scheduled for two days out of every five between now and the end of June. The casualties: roughly half of French domestic trains, plus a handful of services linking London with Paris and Brussels.

You could try to fly via the French capital, but Air France flight crew are taking industrial action in a pay dispute. Even if you reach Paris from Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle or Edinburgh, your problems are only just beginning: on Thursday alone, 16 flights between the capital and Bordeaux were cancelled.

Yet within a couple of years, you could be skipping the strife in the skies and accelerating towards Aquitaine on a train from London. This week the four enterprises that own the tracks between St Pancras and St-Jean, the main station in Bordeaux, opened the way for a direct link.

The infrastructure quartet comprises HS1 Ltd, owner of the High Speed 1 link from London St Pancras to Folkestone; Eurotunnel, which owns the undersea link and collects payments from train operators; SNCF Réseau, the French version of Network Rail; and Lisea, owner of the new 188-mile high-speed line from Tours to Bordeaux.

Mark Smith, the founder of Seat61.com and the man who knows more about international rail than you or I ever will, told me: “I don’t understand why HS1 is leading a drive to run a passenger train, as they are an infrastructure company.

“It’s like the Highways Agency trying to start a new National Express coach service.”

Well, if the Highways Agency paid per mile travelled and realised that some of its very expensive assets could easily carry more traffic, it might just call bus firms to try to drum up some business. A move to extend choice, increase competition and make the great Southwest of France accessible by the most civilised form of transport deserves to succeed.

The Man in Seat Sixty-One concurs: “There’s certainly a demand for travel beyond Paris and Brussels, with Italy and Spain top destinations from the UK. Bordeaux could be a gateway to San Sebastian and Spain, avoiding crossing Paris.”

For another view on the link, I asked Kate Andrews – cofounder and chief operating officer of Loco2, a train booking service for the UK and Europe – three questions.

How much could it cost? “The journey from London to Bordeaux is around 500 miles, a similar distance from London-Lyon. So I think that passengers could expect a fare that’s comparable to the Lyon direct service currently offered by Eurostar, in the region of £51 one-way, £90 return.”

Would it stop along the way? “If the goal is to entice British holidaymakers, the operator of any new service could consider intermediate stops in Tours for exploring the Loire Valley region, Poitiers for connections to La Rochelle, or Angouleme and the vine-covered countryside around Cognac.”

Who would run it? “The most likely candidate is Eurostar, but HS1 has been clear that it doesn’t have to be. The plan is to find an operator that can get the route up and running in a couple of years, so a pragmatic approach is needed.”

To persuade anyone to run the service, the proponents will have to cut their usual track access charges. And if they do that for Bordeaux, many other French cities, from Nantes to Strasbourg, will want a link with London.