13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Spain receives €5 million for taking high speed rail link project forward. Spain has received financial support of €5 million from the budget of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for moving forward towards realisation of the high-speed rail link between Madrid and Lisbon (Priority Project 3 of TEN-T). The European Commission's decision, which was published on Thursday 12 May, provides for co-funding of 11 studies, eight of which will cover technical design studies for certain sections of the track bed. Three others will cover geological, geotechnical and fauna aspects connected to implementation of the link. The European contribution amounts to 39.37% of the project's total cost estimated at €12.7 million. The remaining €7.7 million are financed by the national budget. (A.By./transl.jl)