France’s state railway, SNCF, is pushing ahead with its cross-border expansion by taking a 20 per cent stake in NTV, an Italian consortium that plans to launch Europe’s first privately operated high-speed train service in 2011.

Guillaume Pepy, SNCF president, and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, NTV chairman, on Thursday told a Rome news conference that the exclusive deal ensured SNCF would not enter into any other high-speed train operations in Italy. It would also provide a platform for joint expansion elsewhere in Europe.