Tracklaying on LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (SEA) between Tours and Bordeaux was completed shortly before Christmas.
The last rail was welded in December in Gironde – a year after tracklaying began in Charente.
Installation of the overhead catenary and other systems will continue until mid-2016, with a planned commissioning of the 302-kilometre railway in the summer of 2017.
Contractor Vinci has described €7.8 billion high-speed line as the largest infrastructure concession project currently underway in Europe.
