Construction company Vinci has received a €7.8bn ($10bn) contract from Réseau Ferré de France to construct and maintain a high-speed rail link in southern France.
The 340km railway, which will run between Tours and Bordeaux, will reduce journey times by an hour, according to businessweek.com.
Work on the new track is scheduled to begin at the end of 2011 and the line will be operational by the end of 2016.
Bouygues and Eiffage also participated in the second round of bidding for the project.
