On Thursday 30 January, on board a TGV at Paris Gare de Lyon, Lyria's teams unveiled the revamped travel offer that will be available to passengers between France and Switzerland. from 5 February. Firstly, three new classes will be introduced: Standard, Première and Première Signature. The latter will replace the current Business Première, aimed at leisure and business travellers, a segment which accounts for a third of Lyria's traffic.
This First signatureThe 38-seater seat will be located on the upper deck of car 11 and will be offered on each Duplex train on the 17 daily weekday round trips between France and Switzerland, as well as on Sunday afternoons. " We wanted to create a cocoon-like space, with a calming atmosphere, for business passengers, with windows that were lightly smoked by an exterior film." explains Eric Dehlinger, Managing Director of TGV Lyria.
An agent will greet passengers on the platform in front of the car door, then accompany them throughout their journey to meet their needs. The " biculturalism Lyria's "wine list" will remain Lyria's trademark, with a French and a Swiss chef on board each train, as well as a selection of French and Swiss wines, served with a welcome drink and then during the meal. This wine list, renewed every six months by sommelier Antoine Petrus, accompanies dishes produced locally, obviously Franco-Swiss.
Higher culinary standards
The most visible improvement concerns La Table, the in-seat restaurant created a few weeks ago by chefs Michel Roth and Danny Khezzar. Lyria has taken advantage of the renewal, until 2030, of its agreement with Gate Gourmet Helvetia to raise its culinary standards, as well as its service, with a welcome glass and hot towel. " Depending on the timetable, passengers can choose between breakfast, an afternoon snack or an evening meal. a genuine Michelin-starred meal for lunch and dinner" explains Eric Dehlinger. The menu includes a choice of meat, fish or vegetarian dishes for the main course, as well as the option of a quick snack for those who prefer to use their journey time to work. Lyria's ambition is to offer " top-of-the-range mobility "In Première Signature, other little touches are envisaged, such as the distribution of a travel kit based on the airline model, particularly for the early morning trains.
As part of this global overhaul, the TGV Lyria teams worked on no fewer than 70 ideas, some of which have already been implemented - notably the fact that all trains now arrive and depart from Hall 2, Paris Gare de Lyon - or which will be added to the product over the course of 2025. " We're operating in a bit of a start-up mode, getting ideas off the ground. Some still need to be tested, adapted if necessary, and will be retained if passengers support them." explains Eric Dehlinger. He mentions, for example, revised and reinforced on-board signage, the creation of a children's kit and a family area in certain cars, the installation of a warmer décor in the toilets, the installation of a book box in the bar car, the project for an olfactory ambience or the events that will be programmed three or four times a year around well-being (hand massages, manicures....).
Prices announced as stable for this class before
According to the carrier, the switch from Business 1st to Première Signature has not resulted in any price increase other than inflation. Several tariff levels are, however, applied in the booking system according to the trains and the level of flexibility of the ticket, with full flexibility allowing passengers to board any train of the day. Fares start at €210 for a single ticket to Paris-Geneva and €225 to Zurich, but promotions are currently being run at €179 and €204 respectively, to help passengers discover and appreciate this new superior class.
For this price, Signature passengers at Paris-Lyon also benefit from fast boarding thanks to a dedicated gantry checkpoint and a access to the SNCF Grand Voyageur lounge before departure. We're waiting for the equivalent in Switzerland, in coworking spaces located near the SBB stations in Geneva, Zurich, Lausanne and Basel. " The agreement is due to be signed shortly with an international group" he confides. With Regus? Finally, to work or play during the journey, the wifi portal has been reinforced with better bandwidth with more content that can be consulted offline and a digital press offering that includes a wide range of titles, including Le Figarothe Financial Timesthe Basler Zeitung, Paris Match and Vogue.
An excellent 2024 vintage
While SNCF and CFF have just renewed their agreement on TGV Lyria, the Franco-Swiss company is showing its support for TGV Lyria. a satisfaction rate of 83% and has returned to its best traffic levels with 5.7 million passengers carried in 2024, an increase of 5.5% compared with 2023. Lyria has been making full use of its fleet of 15 Duplex trains since 2019, which at the time increased the number of marketable seats by 30%. "Lyria has an excellent occupancy rate, equivalent to that of the Inoui TGVs. Like SNCF, we're facing the problem of finding new trainsets, and we'll have to wait another two or three years for a sufficient number of TGV Ms to be delivered by Alstom to obtain additional trainsets." concludes Eric Dehlinger.
