Franc Kangler, the mayor of Slovenias second largest city of Maribor, and Siegfried Nagl, his peer from Austrias Graz, called on the transport ministers of both countries Thursday to improve transport links between the two cities. The mayors, speaking to the press in Maribor, said that the two cities needed a fast Intercity rail link that would reduce travel time to under 55 minutes. "If we want to reach this goal, we will need to construct new railroad lines on both sides of the border and build a dual-rail line" between the two cities, the mayors wrote in a letter to Slovenian minister Janez Bozic and his Austrian counterpart Werner Fayman. Kangler and Nagl also called for the strengthening of an "axis of knowledge" between the Maribor and Graz universities and discussed cross-border projects that would allow the cities to vie for EU funds. The mayors, moreover, touched on Maribors bid to become the European culture capital in 2012. (Dnevnik)