A Frecciarossa train from the Italian company Trenitalia, at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, on December 18, 2021, before its departure for Lyon, the first stopover before reaching Turin and Milan in particular (AFP / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT)
For a smooth first trip facing the SNCF TGV, the Italian company Trenitalia is lining up low prices, leather armchairs and competition coffee machines.
Leaving at 07:26 from the Gare de Lyon in Paris, the Frecciarossa (red arrow) 9281 arrived in Lyon at 09:18, two minutes early, before continuing on to Italy.
No union flags or sirens at the start to protest against the arrival on the French rails of the first high-speed train in head-on competition with the SNCF. The only problem, technical: the screens of the station cannot yet display the red Trenitalia logo.
“The train is full”, rejoices Roberto Rinaudo, general manager of Trenitalia France (ex-Thello). An effect of curiosity, attractive prices and also the fear of the SNCF strike – finally avoided in extremis – attracted customers.
“Reservations are going well, beyond our expectations, on all classes,” he told AFP in the small lounge that business travelers can now book between Paris, Lyon, Chambéry, Modane, Turin and Milan .
At the head of the train with a nose decorated with a European flag, the “Executive” class, pride of Trenitalia, offers ten heavy leather armchairs, wide, reclining, swiveling … It feels like the front of an airplane . And “it’s open bar,” says Mr. Rinaudo, with hazelnut-filled croissants for breakfast, waiting for beef cheek in red wine and celeriac puree for later.
In the driver’s cabin of the first Frecciarossa which will link Paris to Milan, Italy, including Lyon and Turin, on December 18, 2021 at the Gare de Lyon (AFP / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT)
In the two neighboring cars, the “Business” class, equivalent to the first, offers more modest leather seats. A snack is offered, including a good espresso. Italy obliges, the companion indeed aligns competition coffee machines. Including at the bar, very busy on this first morning.
The atmosphere is more spartan and more familiar in the five cars of the standard class on this day of departure for the school holidays, just disturbed by the passage of the cameras of journalists attracted by this first trip. It’s hard to tell the difference between the “Silenzio” atmospheres, where it is advisable to whisper, and “Allegro”.
– “A question of price” –
“We looked and found an offer which is rather advantageous. And we decided to take the train rather than the car to go down to Italy to see the family”, says Elisa Dazzan, an Italian working in Paris who goes down to Turin with her husband Andrea and her two children.
“It’s a question of price,” she said, satisfied with her four return tickets at 280 euros. “The SNCF was more like around 900 euros when I looked.”
It must be said that Trenitalia tickets were only put on sale on Monday, while those of the SNCF have been since the beginning of October.
The first Trenitalia Frecciarossa to leave Gare de Lyon in Paris, on December 18, 2021, terminating in Milan (AFP / GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT)
“When I planned my trip, we were in the middle of a strike,” notes Sergio Chianca, a 40-year-old Parisian going to Lyon. The prospect of a strike at the SNCF “precipitated my choice, that’s for sure,” he said. “I was curious to see what it looked like. And it’s very nice,” he adds as the sun rises over the snow-capped hills of the Morvan.
He paid his ticket 45 euros, when the price range, very competitive on the occasion of the launch of the line, starts at 23 euros on Paris-Lyon. Opposite, the SNCF call prices are respectively 16 euros in Ouigo and 25 euros in TGV Inoui (without reduction card). And the fares go up quickly when the trains fill up.
Like Elisa Dazzan, Sergio Chianca promises to compare prices between the two companies.
Trenitalia is offering to start two daily round trips between Paris, Lyon and Milan and promises three additional connections on Paris-Lyon – the most profitable SNCF TGV line – in the first half of 2022. Its trains are less densely occupied with 462 seats against 556.
As for the train itself, called Frecciarossa 1000 by Trenitalia and Zefiro V300 by its manufacturers Hitachi Rail and Bombardier, it slides smoothly at the speed of French TGVs. You will have to get used to the red of the competition.
© 2021 AFP
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