French President François Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Monday clinched a deal on a controversial tunnel train link between their countries.
Italian police on Thursday placed under house arrest nine militants opposed to a high-speed rail link between Turin and Lyon ahead of planned protests against the project next week, Italian media said.
<p>French train company SNCF offered an unusual explanation for a delay to one of its TGV services on Wednesday: the high-speed train was being held up by a hairdryer.</p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The holiday weekend ended in long delays for thousands of train passengers on Monday night.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Passengers on a high speed TGV train from Nice to Paris had to spend most of the night in a tunnel outside Marseille after their train broke down on Tuesday night.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Passengers on a train from Paris to Marseille had little idea that a boa constrictor was slithering around them on Saturday evening.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Passenger groups have expressed dismay at news that state-owned train operator SNCF will put its prices up by an average of 3.2 percent from January.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Train passengers across France will face possible delays and cancellations on Tuesday as rail workers across Europe take industrial action to protest against further rail liberalization.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Commuters, train passengers and school pupils can expect problems on Tuesday as five unions call strikes across the country to protest against government cuts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Agreement has been reached to build a new TGV line between Paris and Bordeaux, cutting the journey time to two hours.</span></p>
