(ANSA) - The new high-speed train (TAV) link between Rome and Naples will become operational on an experimental basis on December 21 and begin normal operation in January, Italian state railways announced on Thursday.
The TAV's official maiden voyage will take place next Wednesday with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti and Transport and Infrastructures Minister Pietro Lunardi aboard.
Safety checks on the line have confirmed that the new train can travel at speeds of up to 300kph, which would
reduce the travel time between the two cities from a minimum of 105 minutes to just 65 minutes.
A total of six billion euro has been invested in this stretch of the TAV line, which will be 91% complete when
service begins in January. The final section, which includes a futuristic concrete and glass station by Israeli architect Zaha Hadid in the Naples suburb of Afragola, will not be completed until 2008. Until then the TAV will continue on the old line.
In the future, TAV services will link Naples, and perhaps even Palermo once the Messina bridge is built, with Turin and then Paris and London.
