The TGV, on its way from Toulouse to Paris late Monday, was on a track that became dislodged when the ground subsided due to the torrential rains.

The train had to stop on the tracks overnight Monday to Tuesday near the town of Tonneins, and the more than 500 passengers had to be evacuated by bus.

According to the prefecture, the rescue operation involved dozens including firefighters, police and volunteers.

"We narrowly avoided a disaster, the tracks were exposed and the TGV was suspended," the mayor of Tonneins, Dante Rinaudo, told AFP.

Describing "avalanches of water" in the town that flooded cellars and houses, he said the calamity should be recognised by the government as a natural disaster.

Another train travelling between Toulouse and Paris was also stranded overnight in Agen, and passengers were taken to Toulouse by bus on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the state rail operator SNCF said traffic would be suspended for "at least several days" between Agen and Marmande in southwestern France, affecting TGV services between Bordeaux and Toulouse.

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