Thello made no secret of its desire to compete with SNCF on its home turf, particularly on the high-speed line. Paris-Lyon-Milan. The ambitions of the company, a subsidiary of the Italian national group Trenitalia, were unveiled at the time. from 2018. The launch was initially scheduled for summer 2020, but has since been postponed due to the health crisis. At the same time, the Italian operator stopped on 1 July from operating its night trains between Paris and Venice, launched in 2011, and its Marseille-Nice-Milan daytime service, in operation since 2014. A 'goodbye' which was not, however, synonymous with a final farewell. " Thello is preparing new projects and is ready to take on new challenges in France" says the company on its website.
In fact, its return now seems to be just around the corner. The Paris-Lyon-Turin-Milan TGV line could even start operating as early as 2010. October. According to the daily Les Echoswhich itself quotes information from the specialist newsletter "Ville, Rail et Transports", one of the operator's trains arrived at Paris-Gare de Lyon at the end of August to carry out initial tests before going into service.
According to the sources quoted, in particular the Transport Regulation Authority, Thello is considering launching two daily return trips from Paris to Turin and Milan. A line that would link France and Italy at high speed, but under international cabotage rules, passengers will also be able to travel between Paris and LyonThis is a very busy line for business travellers and one of the most profitable for SNCF.
As far as the equipment used is concerned, the trains used will be the famous "red arrows", the "white arrows" and the "red arrows". Frecciarossa 1000manufactured by Bombardier and Hitachi. High-speed trains that contribute to the international strategy of Trenitalia, as they will soon also be on the road in Spain. The ILSA consortium, made up of Trenitalia and Air Nostrum, was awarded the contract to operate the Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Valencia/Alicante and Madrid-Malaga/Seville high-speed lines in mid-2020. 23 Frecciarossa 1000 trainsets have been ordered for this purpose, and are expected to enter service in January 2022. Future competitors in France, Trenitalia and SNCF will therefore also be competitors in Spain, where the French company has launched its Ouigo offer last March.
