SNCF was not going to let its competitor Trenitalia communicate alone on the reopening of the Paris-Milan line from 1 January.er next April. Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités, used the X social network to respond to the Italian company, announcing that SNCF will also resume service on this route. There will be 3 return trips a day, compared with 2 for Trenitalia, and the service will start on 31 March, a day earlier than its main competitor, which yesterday celebrated three years in France.
However, at this stage, only two daily return services are shown on SNCF Connect in April and are not yet available. not yet bookableunlike Trenitalia which opened its sales yesterday with great fanfare. On the SNCF platform, these two SNCF Paris-Milan rotations, lasting 7.04 hours, are scheduled to depart from Paris Gare de Lyon at 6.46am and 2.48pm, arriving in the capital of Lombardy at 1.50pm and 9.50pm respectively. The return journeys from Milano Centrale station are scheduled for 12.10 and 4.10 p.m., and to Paris-Lyon for 7.14 and 11.46 p.m. (i.e. a journey time of 7 hours 36 minutes for the latter!)
Two departures at this stage on SNCF Connect
For Trenitalia, the two rotations are scheduled from Paris Gare de Lyon at 7.30 am and 3.18 pm (at 6.25 am and 3.53 pm from Milan) for fares starting from 35 euros in Standard class. SNCF Voyageurs has not yet announced its fares. As a reminder, the railway line has been closed since 27 August 2023 following landslides in the Maurienne valley, near Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
Trenitalia estimates that this closure has resulted in the loss of 850,000 passengers between France and Italy over the period, as this route is very popular with its Italian customers, with a train load factor of 80 to 85%. Although the Italian national airline only offers two rotations a day, it intends to re-attack the market with multiple trains on certain departures, offering 714 seats.
