It was indeed supposed to be put in service this year, technical diffciulties with the new (normalized at the EU level) Signalling System entailed some delays, but operations should start in 2009.
Nope. Soon they will have a
higher speed train in operation, at something like 170kph. But the real high speed TGV-like trains are two or more years away. There was never a chance of having high speed trains on this route this year which is a fact that could have been easily discovered by the tiniest bit of investigative journalism.
It's not about technical issues. It is pure politics. Technology is an excuse often used by politicians.