TGV

How would you sum up your business in France? Marco Caposciutti - We have carried two million passengers in just over two years. Following the landslides in the Maurienne region, which led to the suspension of the Paris-Milan route, our business this year is concentrated on the Paris-Lyon route, on which we operate five daily round trips. Business customers...

Business travellers who frequently travel by high-speed train with Trenitalia between Paris and Lyon have been waiting a few months for this new offer. The Italian company has just unveiled its new product, Trenitalia Pro, designed to strengthen its position in relation to SNCF by targeting not only businesses, but also the self-employed,...

In its priority projects for 2024, the SNCF group has announced its intention to commit 11.7 billion euros of investment, part of which will be devoted to railway renovation and modernisation. Among the projects planned is the installation by SNCF Réseaux of new signalling on the Paris-Lyon high-speed line (LGV), which will result in the cessation of traffic on the...

For the third year in a row, SNCF is rolling along in a greener-than-ever landscape, with the rail company posting a profit of 1.3 billion euros. However, this profit is less flamboyant than the 2.4 billion earned in 2022, the year in which the pandemic ended, even though sales continued to grow by...

According to an article in Le Parisien, which obtained access to an internal SNCF document, the railway company is considering "optimising TGV services" on its loss-making routes. This could ultimately result, at worst, in the closure of certain lines, and at best in a reduction in the number of daily trains....

The Train + Air service gives passengers a single reservation for their entire journey, combining rail and air. Above all, it guarantees them a seat on the next flight or train in the event of delays, free of charge. Last year, the service even entered the digital age, with...

The decision was expected. Trenitalia has announced its intention to operate 5 daily return trips between Paris and Lyon from 10 December, compared with the current three. This refocusing on this strategic route had been planned ever since the landslide in the Maurienne valley on August 27 interrupted services to Turin, the capital of...

In mid-July, Renfe began services on the Lyon-Barcelona and Marseille-Barcelona-Madrid routes. One year after the arrival of Trenitalia and its Frecciarossa operating on the Paris-Lyon-Milan route, the launch of the Spanish national carrier on French rail represents a new stage in the opening up to rail competition, which will be possible from December 2020. Following the applications...

How would you assess Trenitalia's arrival in France? Roberto Rinaudo - The results are very positive, even though since the summer we have had to concentrate on the Paris-Lyon route because of the landslides that occurred at the end of August in the Maurienne valley, which led to the suspension of services to Milan until June 2024. Our...

The high-speed rail link between Paris and London via the Channel Tunnel is attracting a lot of interest. While Eurostar has just merged with Thalys and is preparing to launch its first branding campaign, the Evolyn project is entering a new phase with an order for 12 Avelia TGVs (+ 4 options)...

It was a hard blow. Just as Trenitalia was getting off the ground in France, landslides on 27 August in the Maurienne valley forced the Italian company to suspend its two daily Paris-Milan rotations. And a return to normal operations is not expected before June 2024, by which time the thousands of...

"Don't ever call me Thalys again". On 1 October this year, Thalys disappeared, merged with Eurostar, the brand chosen because it is the best known, particularly among overseas customers. This new beginning was well worth a presentation yesterday in London at the company's offices near St Pancras International station, and a small party to celebrate its first campaign...

Buoyed by a healthy cash position during the pandemic, MSC is continuing its shopping spree. After acquiring Bolloré Africa Logistics and Aliscargo Airlines in the freight sector, the Swiss-Italian shipping group is now gaining a foothold in passenger transport by acquiring a 50% stake in Italo, Trenitalia's competitor in the Italian high-speed rail market. The...

Clément Beaune, the French Transport Minister, came in person to witness the arrival of the TGV M at the Paris-Charenton Technicentre, on a maintenance track modified to accommodate this extraordinary train. This presentation comes as the future TGV begins its trials on the national network, following those carried out in the Czech Republic...

The High Speed 2 (HS2) project, Britain's second high-speed rail line after the Eurostar to St Pancras, has been a veritable snake in the grass. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blew the whistle on the project on Wednesday at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, in this major metropolis in the...

Consolidation work on the railway section in the Maurienne valley is proving more complicated than initially expected. A landslide had interrupted traffic since August. Announced for November, the resumption of the railway line linking Paris to Turin and Milan has now been postponed until the end of June 2024....

On 30 September last, at Brussels-Midi station, a small ceremony celebrated the last TGV to run under the Thalys brand, bringing to a close a railway adventure that began in 1996. The Thalys.com website was closed at the same time, with users now being directed to the Eurostar.com website as part of the merger of the two subsidiary companies...

Under the rather quirky code name of "Botox", the SNCF has unveiled its plan to extend the service life of around a hundred TGVs, with the aim of increasing the number of seats by 15% by 2034. This facelift is in fact one of the solutions chosen by the rail company to respond to the...

A year after unveiling the exterior design of its future TGV M, the SNCF has just presented the design of the 1st and 2nd class seats that will equip the trains delivered by the Alstom group from 2025. "The design of the seats and lamps will be an emblematic marker. They are the result of...

The same message is appearing on the various rail companies' online booking sites: trains cancelled between France and Italy. The situation is critical for road and rail traffic between the two countries. With torrential rain in the Alps, a landslide occurred on Sunday in the Maurienne Valley...