The latest section of high-speed rail line was opened this week in France, 30 years after France’s first TGV line opened.

The 86-mile stretch of the new Rhine-Rhone line was inaugurated on Thursday (8 September 2011) by French president Nicolas Sarkozy in a ceremony at Besancon.

He then travelled to Belfort where there was a display of high-speed trains.

The new line is strategically important for both France and the European rail network, said Hubert du Mesnil, president of the French rail infrastructure authority RFF.

The ceremony follows three months of commissioning trials that have seen a test train cover nearly 40,000 miles.

Commercial services are to start on 11 December, running at up to 200 mph on France’s first inter-regional high-speed route.

The first phase of the line has cost £2 billion, with contributions from the French government, RFF and the regions of Alsace, Bourgogne and Franche-Comte.

The European Union has contributed £170 million and the Swiss Confederation £56 million. The Zurich-Dijon journey time will be cut from 4 hours 30 min to 2 hours 25 min.

Next spring French operator SNCF and German operator DB are planning to launch a daily Frankfurt–Lyon–Marseille service, while a daily service between Basel and the south of France is planned from December next year.

Britain is planning to build its second high-speed rail line, but with dubious connections to mainland Europe.

Information from Railway Gazette International