“Frecciarossa, the pleasure of a new journey. “ Bright red, the large poster overlooks the departures board at Gare de Lyon in Paris, like a scarlet shadow hovering over the SNCF. This advertisement is that of the “Red Arrow” (Frecciarossa), the TGV brand of the Italian public operator Trenitalia, which will soon compete with the SNCF on the high-speed line (LGV) Paris-Lyon, the most borrowed from France. And the most profitable.
When will the first competitor of the French TGV arrive? The rumor predicts the big bang for mid-December, on the occasion of the entry into force of the 2022 timetable. Announced for years, the threat, this time, is about to materialize.
It is therefore anything but a coincidence that the SNCF presented, on Tuesday 19 October, a renovation of its TGV inOui offer on the… Paris-Lyon link. The historic French operator does not hide it. “Forty years, to be precise, after its inauguration, and when the market opens up to competition, the Paris-Lyon line is turning a new page”, says Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, the operator of the group’s 13,000 daily passenger trains.
” Upmarket “
In fact, the SNCF has been concocting this answer for a long time. The development of the low cost Ouigo TGV over almost a decade is the most striking element. But the will displayed, from 2019, by Trenitalia to embark on Paris-Lyon mobilized it even more. A specific team – internal code name “Riposte” – was tasked with refining the defense of Voyages SNCF, the entity that manages the TGV and Intercités. “Our strategy for Paris-Lyon is based, on the one hand, on the low prices of Ouigo, on the other hand, on the move upmarket of the TGV inOui”, explains Alain Krakovitch, the managing director.
In terms of pricing aggressiveness, SNCF has applied itself to locking in the market. In July 2020, two return trips by TGV Ouigo between Paris Gare de Lyon and Lyon Part-Dieu were set up. In March 2022 will be added two other Ouigo Corail round trips at low speed and at very low prices (10 to 30 euros).
As for the move upmarket, the SNCF announced on Tuesday the rejuvenation of the inOui TGV fleet circulating between Paris and Lyon. Seventeen new latest-generation trainsets will replace the old ones by the start of 2022. According to Jean Rouche, director of the South-East axis, these trains will be both more comfortable and denser: 556 passengers per single train. , compared to 509 previously. A sleight of hand achieved through the removal of many squares (vis-à-vis seats).
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