Plans to launch a high-speed rail service between Paris and Barcelona have been delayed “indefinitely”.
The service from Paris’ Gare de Lyon station was due to launch last month but never took place.
According to respected trade journal IRJ, officials from the French and Spanish rail and infrastructure networks have now confirmed that the service has been delayed indefinitely owing to a number of technical issues.
The development of international high-speed rail is continuing to be held back by a combination of technical, political and immigration issues.
Until through services start it is still possible to travel between these two cities by daytime high-speed train but it requires a change of train at the Franco-Spanish border.
Passengers must take the French TGV from Paris (Lyon) to Figueres where, after a simple cross-platform change, they continue 15 minutes later with a Spanish AVE (Spain’s equivalent of the TGV) service to Barcelona.
According to Rail Europe, there are two high-speed trains every day on this route. The fastest possible journey time is 6 hours 33 minutes.
raileurope.co.uk