ITALY: Celebrations were held in Milano on December 5 to mark the completion of the final sections of the north-south high speed rail corridor, which opens for revenue service with the timetable change on December 13.

Completion of the Novara - Milano, Bologna - Firenze and Napoli - Salerno links brings the total length of Italy's Alta Velocità network to more than 1 000 route-km, stretching from Torino to Salerno. Describing the occasion as `an Italian miracle', FS Group Chief Executive Mauro Moretti said the high speed line would act as a `vertical spine' for the country, linking most of the major cities and serving around 65% of the country's population.

(Shameless self-promotion: I'll post a 2009 high-speed review on Sunday.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}