France and Italy Sign Lyon-Turin High Speed Rail Link AgreementFrance and Italy on 5th May signed an agreement on the financing of a EUR12 billion transalpine high speed rail link between the cities of Lyon and Turin. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Gilles de Robien, French minister for transport, and his Italian counterpart Pietro Lunardi during a visit to France of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. The scheme depends upon a 20% subsidy from the European Union for the international part of the link. The cost would be split 50-50 for the part of the line running from Pont de Bonvoisin, France and Settimo Torinese, Italy and 63-37 for the international section between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France and Bussoleno, Italy with Italy bearing the brunt of the investment.The high speed Lyon-Turin rail link is part of the so-called European corridor 5 to connect the Portuguese capital Lisbon with Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which is located more than 3,400 km away. The railway will pass through a 52 km cross-border twin-tube tunnel through the Alps. The line is scheduled to open in 2015-2018. 20/04.