Editing Bordeaux (section)

=== Rail ===
[[File:Bordeaux Gare StJean R01.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean]]]]

The main railway station, [[Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean]], near the center of the city, has 12&nbsp;million passengers a year. It is served by the French national ([[SNCF]]) railway's high speed train, the [[TGV]], that gets to Paris in two hours, with connections to major European centers such as [[Lille]], Brussels, [[Amsterdam]], [[Cologne]], Geneva and London. The TGV also serves [[Toulouse]] and [[Irun]] (Spain) from Bordeaux. A regular train service is provided to [[Nantes]], Nice, [[Marseille]] and [[Lyon]]. The Gare Saint-Jean is the major hub for regional trains ([[Transport express régional|TER]]) operated by the SNCF to [[Arcachon]], [[Limoges]], [[Agen]], [[Périgueux]], [[Langon, Gironde|Langon]], [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]], Le Médoc, Angoulême and [[Bayonne]].

Historically the train line used to terminate at a station on the right bank of the river Garonne near the Pont de Pierre, and passengers crossed the bridge to get into the city. Subsequently, a double-track steel railway bridge was constructed in the 1850s, by [[Gustave Eiffel]], to bring trains across the river direct into Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean. The old station was later converted and in 2010 comprised a cinema and restaurants.

The two-track Eiffel bridge with a speed limit of {{convert|30|km/h|0|abbr=on}} became a bottleneck and a new bridge was built, opening in 2009. The new bridge has four tracks and allows trains to pass at {{convert|60|km/h|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>[http://aquitaine.fr/politiques-regionales/transports/pont-ferroviaire-de-bordeaux.html Pont Ferroviaire de Bordeaux] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521131358/http://aquitaine.fr/politiques-regionales/transports/pont-ferroviaire-de-bordeaux.html |date=21 May 2011 }} on aquitaine.fr</ref> During the planning there was much lobbying by the Eiffel family and other supporters to preserve the old bridge as a footbridge across the Garonne, with possibly a museum to document the history of the bridge and Gustave Eiffel's contribution. The decision was taken to save the bridge, but by early 2010 no plans had been announced as to its future use. The bridge remains intact, but unused and without any means of access.

The [[LGV Sud Europe Atlantique]] became fully operational in July 2017, shortening the journey time from Bordeaux city to Paris to 2hrs 4mins.