It was Saturday December 18, 2021, the first day of the Christmas holidays.
At the Gare de Lyon in Paris, the Frecciarossa (“red arrow” in Italian) welcomed its first passengers to Lyon, Turin and Milan.
A revolution in French rail transport: from now on, travelers can switch from one company to another depending on price or the desired travel experience.
A few days away from blowing out its first candle, Trenitalia France draws up a positive assessment of its first year of activity.
The first operator to put an end to the monopoly of the SNCF on high speed has just crossed the milestone of one million tickets sold, as announced by Roberto Rinaudo, its director general, during a press conference on December 14.
The Italian company claims an average occupancy rate of 70%, driven mainly by the cross-border section from Lyon to Turin and Milan.
A rate that drops to only 50% on the French part Paris-Lyon where the company added three additional round trips in June 2022 (i.e. five in total).
Blame it, no doubt, on the lack of visibility of Trenitalia's offer.
The site on which the French have the reflex to book their train tickets, SNCF Connect, does not display the timetables of the Italian company, unlike platforms like Trainline which sell tickets from all operators.
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No price increase
Despite everything, Trenitalia is satisfied to have increased the offer and the number of travelers on the busiest route in France.
"
The arrival of a new operator, complementary to the historic one, encourages new travelers to take the train and stimulates the growth of the rail market
", welcomes Roberto Rinaudo.
This openness to competition is beneficial for the wallet.
In one year, the price of the Paris-Lyon ticket has fallen by 8%, dropping from 46 to 42 € on average, according to Trainline.
The SNCF, which was worried about losing its monopoly, now seems to be coping with this competition.
“
Our traffic continues to increase on this axis.
The Italians, to hear them, are satisfied with the attendance of their trains.
So the cake rose for everyone
e”, declared at the end of November Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of the SNCF, in an interview with
Figaro
.
It remains to be seen that inflation will not force Trenitalia to increase its prices, as the SNCF has just done.
"
There will be no change in the tariff schedule linked to the rise in energy prices
", promises Roberto Rinaudo.
To save money, the company plans to train its drivers in eco-driving and generalize eco-parking (cutting off the power during prolonged stops).
For now, the call price for Paris-Lyon is €23 in Standard class and €29 in Business class, just a few euros more than Ouigo for a high level of service.
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Priority to high speed and regional trains
Trenitalia is also preparing a new offer for professionals (the most profitable customer segment) which will be unveiled in early 2023. Will we one day see the Frecciarossa in Bordeaux, Lille or Marseille?
Trenitalia does not exclude anything.
“
Our two priorities are high speed and regional transport.
But developing new lines takes time, you have to study all the constraints and work in synergy with the existing offer
”, recalled its managing director.
In any case, there are no plans to increase frequencies between Paris and Lyon in 2023.
Outside France, the Italian State Railways (FS Italiane), owners of Trenitalia, plan to launch a line between Paris and Madrid via Barcelona at the end of 2024.
A way to connect two countries where the Italian has just established itself.
In Spain too, Trenitalia took advantage of the opening up to competition to launch high-speed services under the Iryo brand between Madrid and the country's main cities, including Barcelona and Seville.
ON VIDEO - Rail competition: Trenitalia launches on the Paris-Lyon-Milan axis