Does anyone know an update on the Figueres to Barcelona high speed rail connection? I've seen a lot of articles talking about it opening in 2012, but I don't see anything saying that it's imminent.
Here's a quote from a Catalan News Agency article: "The High-Speed Train service between Barcelona and France will suffer from another delay and it will not be operational until at least the third quarter of 2013, according to the Catalan Government. This means almost one more year from the scheduled date: December 2012. The reason is that two essential parts of the project managed by the Spanish Government, which pays for the infrastructure, are still pending. According to the Catalan Government's Deputy Minister for Mobility and Territory, Damià Calvet, these two sections total €33 million, a very small amount compared to the global cost of the project. According to Calvet, this delay "has no technical nor economic reasoning". Calvet announced the delay in Girona on Thursday, which he said was officially communicated to him on Wednesday by the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Currently Catalonia and France are already connected through a High-Speed Train service, but only between the Catalan city of Figueres and the French city of Perpignan, separated by 50 kilometres. The 135 kilometres of railway between Figueres and Barcelona are almost fully completed, except in two parts: less than 20 kilometres at the exit of Barcelona and at the section through the city of Girona."