Paris-Madrid high speed rail line in the works

[marmar]

from the London Times:



November 28, 2009
Paris and Madrid sign high-speed rail deal

Graham Keeley
Madrid


Spain and France have agreed to form a company to build a high-speed train line linking Madrid and Paris.

Service on the line is expected to start in 2012 and make travelling to Spain by rail a day trip for Londoners.

The Eurostar to Paris now takes as little as 2 hours and 15 minutes. Allowing for some delay in crossing Paris, passengers will be able to board a high-speed train from the French capital to Madrid, stopping off in Lyon and Barcelona. The journey time between Paris and the Spanish capital is expected to be between 5 hours 30 minutes and 6 hours — depending on whether the service stops in Lyon and Barcelona, or proceeds directly from Paris to Madrid.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, and François Fillon, his French counterpart, agreed yesterday on the high-speed rail link between the two countries and the creation of an as-yet unnamed company to run it.

The company will be run jointly by Renfe, the Spanish state rail operator, and SNCF, the French rail operator, with each taking a 50 per cent stake. It will be operated from Spain. Renfe is planning to invest €300 million (£272 million), buying ten trains to service the new line. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article6935513.ece