Italy To Build New High-Speed Rail Road To Reach The UK In Just 6 Hours

The Turin-Lyon high-speed railway finally was given the green light by prime minister Giuseppe Conte this week, after the country’s new populist government threatened to cancel it.

The line, which will run in tunnels under the Alps, cuts the journey from Milan to Paris and beyond by three hours.

Existing TGV services between Paris and Turin currently take five and a half hours, with a journey time of seven hours to Milan. After the new line is complete the Paris-Milan journey will be cut to four hours.

A direct service through the channel tunnel from London would take around six hours to reach Italy.

But any company that decided to run such a service would have to wrestle with passport control and security regulations, which apply to trains between the UK and the continent.

With a completion date of 2030 for the new line, the planning of any service is far off. Even if no direct service was introduced to the UK, passengers from London changing trains in Paris would be able to get to Italy three hours faster.

“Not building the high-speed line would cost much more than building it,” Italy’s prime minister Mr Conte said in his statement.

“The decision not to carry out the work would expose us to costs resulting from breaching our agreement with France.”

Mr. Conte said the EU had agreed to shoulder a larger proportion of the project’s cost – up from 40 per cent to 55 percent of the €25bn (£22bn) bill. France’s national assembly has already approved the project.

The project was the subject of a row between Italy’s populist coalition governing parties. It is supported by the League, which has traditionally been strong in the north of the country but was opposed by the Five Star Movement, whose support base is mostly in the south.

The line is 270km long, of which 57.7km is tunneled. It will connect with the LGV Sud-Est high-speed line at the French end and the Turin-Milan high-speed railway at the Italian end. A service to London would use HS1 through Kent and LGV Nord through northern France, likely bypassing central Paris on the LGV Interconnexion Est line.

International rail services from the UK got a boost last month after Eurostar stepped up its new service from London to Amsterdam, adding an extra train per day. But last year German railway company DB ditched plans to run a direct service to Cologne and Frankfurt, citing operational difficulties.

Unlike the vast majority of European countries, the UK is not a member of the Schengen passportless area, which means international rail passengers must go through passport checks at stations. This makes it harder for firms to run international rail services because they often require expensive modifications to existing stations to introduce border controls. Passengers in other EU countries benefit from seamless cross-border travel.

This Facebook Group Is Dedicated To Shaming Bad Architecture, And Here’s 20 Pics That Got Roasted

Sometimes, in architecture, designs can go out of the ordinary. For example, we have a rather dangerous architecture that is as dangerous as it looks, if not more. On a positive note, we also have a somewhat friendly architecture that is not only useful for the user but also cares for their welfare as well.

And today, we’ll be having some funny designs. These structures aren’t dangerous and still serve their purpose, but how they’re constructed can be hilarious. Today, we’ll head over to the Facebook group That’s It, I’m Architecture Shaming – Burn It to the Ground Edition, the gathering place for people who love to poke fun at funny designs. Below, we compiled the 20 funniest structures ever presented in the group!

More info: Facebook

#1 I Can Smell The Mold From Here

Image source: Christopher Edward

#2 All I Know Is It’s In LA County And Has Been Under Construction For More Than 5 Years

Image source: Paul Moore-Northrop

#3 My Friend Posted This From Vegas… Not Sure The Name Of This Building- I Kinda Dig It- His Comments Were, “It Sure Is Hot In The Desert!”

Image source: Jackie Crowder Clark

#4 Windows Shmindows

Image source: Christopher Edward

#5 So I Was On Google Maps… Our Lady Of Fátima Church, San Jose De Costa Rica

Image source: Olaf Reinhard Weyer

#6 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Christopher Edward

#7 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Catherine Digman

#8 Spotted In Vancouver. Windows Look Funny That’s Not Just Me Right

Image source: Cooki Pi

#9 The Hills Have Eyes. And So Does This Hilton Head Condo

Image source: Dianne Butler

#10 I Found This Just North Of Petersburg

Image source: Tiffany Prine

#11 Was There A Half-Off Sale On Shutters?

Image source: Gary Salata

#12 It’s High As A Kite

Image source: Christopher Edward

#13 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Dianne Butler

#14 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Christopher Edward

#15 Losing My Mind At This

Image source: Catherine Digman

#16 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Ross Jenkins

#17 When You Live In Arizona & Hate The Heat, But Love Golf. Here Is The House For You!

Image source: Jennifer Doorenbos

#18 Everytime I See These Windows I Do A Double Take. Not For A Good Reason

Image source: Veronica Claussen

#19 A Greenhouse In Lafayette, LA. I Love It And Hate It At The Same Time. Weird Feeling. What Do You Think Of It. (Yes It’s Old And I Hear It May Not Be Around Much Longer)

Image source: Layne Derouen

#20 Architecture Shaming

Image source: Christopher Edward




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