Finally, the arrival of Trenitalia on the Paris-Marseille line materializes. Several months after announcing that it would run its high-speed trains on this route, the Italian railway company is giving more details on this new route, the second that it will offer in France.
From June 15, Trenitalia will make 4 round trips per day between the capital and the Marseille city. The red TGVs, called “Frecciarossa”, will make the journey in 3 hours 20 minutes. From Lyon station, they will then serve the stations of Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, Avignon TGV, Aix-en-Provence TGV, and Marseille Saint-Charles .
Departures from Paris will take place each day at 5:55 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 2:26 p.m., and 7:04 p.m. From Marseille, trains will depart at 6:52 a.m., 9:53 a.m., 3:40 p.m. and 6:49 p.m. The company hopes in particular to attract a professional clientele.
Tickets on sale in mid-March 2025 for the Paris-Marseille line with Trenitalia
“We chose this line because it connects the three most important cities in Francesaid Marco Caposciutti, president of Trenitalia in France. Working with SNCF Réseau allowed us to obtain timetables which are distributed throughout the day in a coherent manner.“
The company justifies the choice of a stop at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry to contain travel time. “The journey would have been longer if it stopped at Lyon-Part-Dieu“, said Marco Caposciutti.
Tickets for this new Trenitalia line between Paris and Marseille, the most profitable route in France, will be on sale from mid-March. “We will have the same pricing logic as on Paris-Lyon, or Paris-Milanpromised Fabrice Toledano, marketing director of the company in France, who refuses to communicate prices, for the moment. This is a very promising area for the summer season. Our objective is to develop the rail market. Trenitalia's results have never been as good as since it was opened to competition.“
The cheapest ticket for a Paris-Lyon with Trenitalia is currently sold for 29 euros, or 58 euros for a round trip.
Trenitalia also says it plans to hire “with local locations” during the year, including in Marseille.
-With the launch of this line, already offered by Spanish Renfe trains, the company, a competitor to SNCF, hopes to double the number of passengers it transports in France.
From February 14, Trenitalia will circulate “multiple units“, in other words two TGV trains attached to each other. These trains “coupled” will be able to circulate on the Paris-Marseille line, depending on demand. They will be capable of transporting 914 passengers in total.
Catering, meeting rooms and “free content” on board trains
On board, travelers will have the choice between several classes: Standard, Business, or Executive for the top of the range. Meeting rooms will also be available for professionals. A catering offer “with flavors of Italy“is announced,”instead or on street sales“. Travelers will be able to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, and access “a free content platform“, for their entertainment.
Since its establishment in 2021, with the opening of a Paris-Lyon line, “nearly three million“of passengers took its trains, including the “punctuality rate” reached 97%. The company was the first foreign railway company to establish itself on French rail.
Trenitalia also announces that it will reopen its Paris-Milan line on April 1, 2025, which had been forced to stop, after the landslide in Maurienne, in August 2023. From the Gare de Lyon, this line will serve the stations of Lyon- Part-Dieu, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Modane, Oulx, Turin and Milan, with two daily round trips.
The Paris-Marseille line could be extended to the Nice-Genoa-Milan axis in a second phase. “We are studying it“, indicated Marco Caposciutti. The extension will, however, not take place in 2025.
