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Article: A tale of two countries. (This Month).
- Article from:
- International Railway Journal
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THIS month we have news stories from two European neighbours: France and Britain, but it is more than the Channel which separates them. France is proudly celebrating the presidential opening of its fifth high-speed line--TGV Mediterranee--and a world endurance record for TGV (see page 6). In stark contrast Britain's private track authority, Railtrack, faces a major financial crisis. Now that last month's national election is over in Britain, the re-elected British government faces some difficult decisions on how to fund rail infrastructure investment and whether further restructuring is necessary.
Successive French governments have backed rail investment, ...