Flash flooding around the French Riviera has killed at least 16 people, including some trapped in cars, a campsite and a retirement home.

French politicians have voted to create a €53m fund to compensate Holocaust victims deported by French state rail firm SNCF to Nazi concentration camps in a move also intended to protect the company from future US litigation.

The British Government is today inviting expressions of interest from bidders for the UK’s 40% stake in the Eurostar rail service.

Get a taste of some of the interesting and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill.

They may have some of the fastest trains in the world but the French have come to Ireland to learn how to make savings while also improving the reliability of their entire fleet, including their TGV trains that reach speeds of 320km/h.

An unattached rail joint may have caused a train derailment in France during a busy holiday weekend that left six dead, rail officials said.

At least seven people are believed dead and several injured after a packed passenger train derailed outside Paris, France’s interior minister says.

Heavy snow has brought chaos across Europe with tairports, trains and roads all struggling to keep moving.

Riot police fired tear gas at anti-nuclear protesters in a Normandy field today as activists damaged a railway line and delayed the departure of a train carrying recycled uranium to Germany.

The scoresheet in the hurling included an unlikely name: M. Moynihan 0-2, (0-1f). The World Cup comes around every four years.

Eurotunnel slumped to a full-year loss today as a long-running dispute over insurance payments arising from a fire in 2008 offset a rise in passenger numbers.

Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures have swept across Europe killing at least eight homeless people, closing major airports and causing hundreds of road accidents.

France’s state-run railway company has for the first time expressed “sorrow and regret” for its role in the deportation of Jews during the Second World War II.

Police broke through barricades around French fuel depots today as the government took a tough line with strikers threatening to bring the country to a halt.

France’s retirement protest strikes turned violent today as youths clashed with riot police in cities across the country.

Some airlines steered clear of France today, and police clashed with stone-throwing youths, as a new round of nationwide strikes and protests over a bill raising the retirement age to 62 kicked off.

France will be plunged into more strike chaos tomorrow with the threat of fuel shortages, street protests, and disrupted public transport and air travel.

Nicolas Sarkozy remained defiant over his plan to raise France’s retirement age to 62 and his government vowed to defeat efforts to block fuel after strikes sparked fears of a shortage.

France was today hit by the third day of a strike over retirement reform plans, disrupting train travel and raising concerns about a possible fuel shortage.

French commuters squeezed on to limited public transport and fought for rare parking spots today as a second round of strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 hobbled trains, planes and schools across France.

Striking French unions went on strike today shutting down trains, planes, buses, underground services, post offices and schools in a dispute over raising the age of retirement.

The French national railway’s bid to win America’s first high-speed rail contract will face the fury of Holocaust survivors today over the company’s role in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps.

The London market leapt to its highest level for 18 months today after US unemployment figures eased economic concerns about the world's biggest economy.

British transport firm Arriva today said talks with France’s national rail operator about creating a new European industry giant had come to nothing.

THE death toll from winter storms across Europe rose to at least 80 yesterday as transport chaos spread amid mounting anger over the failure of Eurostar high-speed trains.

A strike by rail workers partially halted train services around France today amid restructuring of the freight sector and fears of job losses.

A commuter train struck and killed two football fans, including a 10-year-old boy, as they walked along the tracks after a match at Paris’ Stade de France, French officials said today.

Vandals tried to derail a French high-speed train with concrete blocks on the track, it emerged today.

Vandals jammed iron bars into two electrical lines on a high-speed rail track in northern France, disrupting more than 30 train services to London, Brussels and other routes, the national rail authority said.

FIVE children and an adult were killed when a train collided with a school bus at a level crossing in eastern France yesterday, French authorities said.

France faces a new rail strike next week which could slow commuter traffic to a crawl.

Transport networks in France began returning to normal this morning, after striking workers ended a nine-day walkout protesting president Nicolas Sarkozy’s retirement reform plans.

The French transport strike appeared to be crumbling today as a steady trickle of drivers returned to work.

Long-awaited negotiations with striking transport workers began today, the eighth full day of a walkout which has paralysed train services throughout France.

Long-awaited negotiations between striking transport workers and the French government were due to begin today as a walkout which has paralysed train services throughout the country entered its eighth full day.

French unions are mounting a sixth day of nationwide transport strikes today, despite signs the movement is running out of steam and heading towards negotiations.

Hopes of an end to the French transport strike rose today after President Nicolas Sarkozy accepted a union offer for talks.

Transport workers shut down most trains across France for a second full day today, once again causing chaos for passengers.

FRANCE was plunged into travel chaos again yesterday as striking railway unions staged a show of strength against the economic reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy faced a crucial test of his planned reforms today with an indefinite train strike that will also hit the Paris Metro.

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel slashed charges for its rail freight business today after traffic slipped to one-tenth of its design capacity.

Parisians are braced for rush-hour chaos today as a nationwide strike was expected to cripple the public transport system and give President Nicolas Sarkozy his first real test after five months in office.

Nicolas Sarkozy is facing the first real challenge to his presidency tonight when unions begin a one-day strike expected to leave France without public transport.