THE French parliament has ratified a treaty signed with the Spanish government covering the construction of a high-speed line between Figueres and Perpignan. This includes an 8·2 km tunnel under the Pyrenees at Le Perthus, which is to be built with private finance; the tunnel concessionaire will charge users a toll. The connections from Perpignan to Narbonne and Figueres to Barcelona will be built with conventional public funding.
Construction of the tunnel, of which 7·3 km will lie in France, is scheduled to begin by January 1 2000. Work is expected to be complete by December 30 2003, with the Figueres - Perpignan route due to open in October 2004.
- The Andalucía regional government has shortlisted two possible routes for the Córdoba - M
