Slow start for French express

President Jacques Chirac had high hopes for increased opportunities in southern France

PARIS, France -- Serious delays have plagued the first weeks of France's new express train link between the capital Paris and the Mediterranean coast.

The TGV Mediterranee, expected by politicians and rail operators alike to revolutionise travel between northern and southern France, aimed to cut the journey from Paris to the city of Marseille in the south to just under three hours.

The service was touted as a much-needed link between the affluent French north and the more deprived areas that fringe the Mediterranean. But since its inauguration on June 10, the TGV Mediterranee has rarely arrived on time.

In its first week, only 77 percent of the express trains arrived within three hours. But the tally has steadily increased, rising to 86 percent in the third week.

A spokeswoman for the French state rail company SNCF admitted to CNN there had been "a few problems," but said they had all been the result of circumstances "beyond their control."

"There have been protests, fires have been started and unfortunately there has been a suicide," she told CNN.

The knock-on effect of these incidents has resulted in serious delays. "When one train gets held up it has a knock-on effect on almost all the following trains," the spokeswoman said.

"We are hoping to hit our 90 percent punctuality target as soon as next week," she told CNN. "A clear improvement is obvious so we are confident of meeting our target."

SNCF also blamed delays on the network's "particularly sensitive security system" which "gets set off very easily, so the trains stop regularly to get checked, which has caused some of the problems."

The company confirmed adjustments were being made to the system, adding that when the delay has exceeded 30 minutes, passengers have been offered compensation for the hold-up.

Before the launch of the new express train, many travellers elected to fly between the two hubs. The previous train service zoomed from Paris to Lyon at 170 mph (270 kph) only to halve its speed through the hills of southern France on the approach to Marseille.

The property industry in the Provence region around Marseille has braced itself for an influx of buyers from the north on the lookout for holiday homes in the sunnier south. Prices in the town of Avignon have climbed 46 percent over the last three years, officials said.

But both politicians and the people of Marseille hope the TGV Mediterranee will bring them far more than just sun-seeking tourists.

For decades, the city has been a stopover for migrants from north Africa seeking a new life in France and Europe.

Though many large companies such as the Shell Group have set up local operations, Marseille still contains some of France's most deprived areas. The region's unemployment stands at 14.5 percent compared to a national average of 8.7 percent.

People hope the express train will dramatically improve the region's business and trade opportunities with the rest of France and Europe.

"Better communications and the euro are bringing us closer to neighbouring markets," Guy Guistini, director of Provence Promotion, told Reuters news agency.

The service plans to offer Marseille connections to Switzerland and Germany via the city of Lyon, midway on the route between Paris and the south.

Lyon was set to become the heart of a European TGV network, with links proposed to the industrial metropolis of Turin in northern Italy and to the city of Barcelona in Spain, in a bid to strengthen ties with the booming Spanish economy.