A new high-sped train line will link France and Germany from 2007, cutting travel time between Paris and Frankfurt to under four hours, official said Monday. There will be five trains a day between Paris and Frankfurt and four between Paris and Stuttgart on the new TGV line, which France's state-owned rail company SNCF said is expected to be used by an estimated 1.5 million passengers a year. Currently, the fastest train connection between Paris and Frankfurt via Saarbruecken and Mannheim takes 6 hours, while passengers to Stuttgart have to go via the eastern French city of Strasbourg. The TGV line will require a new bridge across the Rhine river near Strasbourg that will be built at a cost of ¤30 to ¤50 million (US$38 million to 62 million), said Strasbourg deputy mayor Pascal Mangin.
