Paris, France – Mr Hubert du Mesnil, the President of Réseau Ferré de France, has appointed Mr Alain Cuccaroni to the position of Director of Operations for phase 2 of the East European HSL project.

Since 1998, Alain Cuccaroni has been Deputy Director of Operations for the East European High Speed Line (first phase), reporting to Patrick Trannoy.

On March 8th 2007, the RFF’s supervisory board approved a 94 million euro financing agreement to prepare the 2nd phase of the HSL. This preparation work will involve conducting complementary studies, carrying out archaeological excavations and acquiring property and land in the Moselle region.

The second phase of the East European HSL project will entail the creation of 106 kilometres of new line between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim (Lower Rhine), of which 71km will be in the Moselle region and 35km will be in the Lower-Rhine region. The new line will shave 30 minutes off journey times between Paris and Strasbourg, thus reducing the time to just 1 hour and 50 minutes (compared to 2 hours and 20 minutes as of June 10th). The completion of the second phase will also help to further improve rail links between France, Germany and Luxembourg. Work is scheduled to begin by 2010.