France launches €30m plan to reduce resident TGV noise

The project will concentrate on the lines from Brittany-Pays-de-la-Loire, and South-Europe-Atlantic, which links Tours and Bordeaux.

The plans were confirmed after a report from environment council le Conseil Général de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable (CGEDD), which was set up in 2018 after numerous resident complaints.

The report said: “Though the noise is generally limited on average, the situation is intolerable for residents due to loud peaks [of sound] when the trains go past.”

Following the report’s conclusions, transport minister Elisabeth Borne confirmed €33 million-worth of works to improve the “sound protection” of the residents living near the lines in question.

In a longer statement, Ms Borne said: “Work will be done to address these situations, on a case-by-case basis, such as adapting infrastructure (raising slopes, lengthening walls), or isolating properties.

“With these measures that we are going to take, affected residents will benefit from necessary sound protection work. Each of them can count on my total determination to evolve the structure in the future, to better take into account these noise peaks.”