Transport. TGV Paris-Lyon: the SNCF in competition on its most profitable axis – Le Progrès

The Italian carrier will offer two round trips per day between Paris Gare de Lyon and Milan Centrale, via Lyon Part Dieu, Chambéry, Modane and Turin, in the morning and in the evening. “3 daily round trips between Paris and Lyon will subsequently complete the available offer, ”explains Trenitalia on its site. There will be a standard class, a ‘business comfort’ and ‘executive comfort’ (which looks like a small lounge with leather armchairs), as well as a conference room that can be privatized.

Since December 2020, high-speed lines have been accessible to companies other than SNCF, apart from those subject to a territorial agreement. But this opening had not yet materialized, the arrival of competitors having been notably postponed by the health crisis. This is therefore the first direct attack by a foreign competitor.

However, the Paris-Lyon line on which Trenitalia is now positioned is the most profitable in France: it represents 1/3 of national traffic, at a rate of 26 daily trips and 240 trains on the line per day (in both directions), ie “more than 50 million passengers each year”, according to SNCF network. In 2017, the number was 44.5 million travelers against 40 in 2012 and only 20 in 1991.

An opportunity for the rail sector?

SNCF ensures that it will not be disturbed by this opening up of competition. According to Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, interviewed in early November by Le Figaro, this will increase traffic, “as in Spain where since we launched Ouigo Madrid-Barcelona in May, there are 17% of journeys. by additional TGV on the “.

According to Franck Tuffereau of AFRA, this is also true in Italy where “opening up to competition has made trains more comfortable and more modern, with a high quality of service on board, while reducing prices for travelers ”.

SNCF has however planned a response by launching its ‘business first’ class on the TGV Inoui Paris-Lyon last October, in anticipation of the arrival of the Frecciarosse (‘red arrow’), the Italian train. According to information from Parisian, this premium class will be accessible at 142 euros, against 139 for Trenitalia.

Other future competitors for TGVs

What’s more, the Italian operator is not the only competitor SNCF has to face: the Spanish transporter Renfe is also targeting the Paris-Lyon-Marseille route. In a press release published in September, he announced to open a branch in Paris to “develop business opportunities” in France. “With the liberalization of passenger rail transport in Europe, the Spanish operator is carrying out actions in France aimed at both the launch of high-speed commercial services (Paris-Lyon-Marseille) and the provision of public services (in the regions Grand-Est and Hautes de France) ”, adds the company in this text.

Renfe has not yet announced any timetable, its inclinations being hampered by technical signaling reasons, according to the gallery. But it does not admit defeat and also intends to compete with the Franco-British company Eurostar (55% owned by the SNCF) between Paris and London with seven trains. She has already requested authorization from the Spanish Ministry of Finance.

Competition is also becoming clearer on TER

Finally, on the smaller lines, the opening is also becoming clearer: the SNCF for example lost the TER Marseille-Nice line to the benefit of Transdev from 2025. For the moment, five regions, Grand-Est, Hauts-de-France , Ile-de-France, PACA and Pays de la Loire have launched calls for tenders for certain sections of their network (in particular Paris-Beauvais, Strasbourg-Epinal, etc.)

From 2023, these calls for tenders will be mandatory.

The cooperative company Railcoop also wants to materialize the Lyon-Bordeaux journey from 2022, which should last 6 or 7 hours, and a journey between Thionville and Lyon. Lcompany Le Train would also like to launch a TGV between Arcachon, Bordeaux, Angoulême and Poitiers for September 2022.

Trenitalia was already present through its subsidiary Thello on the TER, which announced at the end of June the closure of the two lines it operated there: the Paris-Milan-Venice night train, suspended since the start of the health crisis on March 10 2020, has not resumed, and the Marseille-Nice-Milan link was shut down on June 29.