The return of the Toulouse correspondence-Barcelona by plane via Vueling company was not well received. And for good reason, the low cost company Vueling is planning 3 flights per week from July this year, while the two cities are only 340 kilometers apart.
But Vueling has an unstoppable argument: it will be the only direct line between the two cities outside of bus or car. There is, in fact, no direct connection by train. The shortest route with a connection in Narbonne.
An argument that Carole Delga, the president of the Occitanie Region and Pere Aragonès, president of Catalonia would like to dismantle. Together, they aim to strengthen cooperation between the two cross-border regions and in particular rail after the announcement of the airline by Vueling.
Three possibilities highlighted
“Connecting our two regions by low-carbon public transport is a necessity. We are committed to studying lasting solutions to create more frequent daily rail connections between Catalonia and Occitania,” said Carole Delga during her meeting with the president of the neighboring Spanish region.
On the Spanish side, Pere Aragonès announced the end of a viable study on the possible establishment of a service level train to connect Toulouse in 3h10 via the Perthus tunnel. Catalonia is now looking for funding to carry out this project and no timetable has been announced.
On the Occitanie side, the Region is carrying out the project to link Toulouse to Barcelona by a regional train via Perpignan and Figeras without a connection, between 4-5 hours.
Finally, the last point concerns the TGV Toulouse-Barcelona. The latter indeed stopped three years ago because the SNCF considered that the journey was not economically viable with one seat in three occupied. But if Vueling opens a line between the two metropolises, it is because there is a certain interest and studies have been made to make the project viable, justifies the Region. Carole Delga would like to open the discussion with the SNCF.
In the meantime, Toulouse residents will be able to use the plane, the train to the Narbonnaise connection, the car or the bus to go party on the Ramblas.