Trenitalia France will boost its Paris–Lyon offer by more than half this winter, raising weekday frequencies from 9 to 14 round-trips from mid-December. The expansion is the centrepiece of the operator’s newly opened winter sales period as the Italian state-backed rail company looks to dramatically grow its European footprint.
Trenitalia France will open winter ticket sales from today for journeys through to mid-March 2026, with the company’s biggest move coming on the Paris–Lyon corridor; the state-backed rail company will be adding five extra weekday round-trips on one of the busiest high-speed routes in Europe from 14 December, lifting the total to 14. “Thus, more than one-third of the offer will be provided by Trenitalia between the two metropolitan areas,” said the company, illustrating its shift “towards a strong and lasting presence on this strategic axis.”
Currently running nine weekday round-trips, the Paris–Lyon axis has become Trenitalia’s main foothold in the French high-speed market. The uplift to 14 round-trips represents a 55% increase in weekday capacity. Tickets are already being advertised from 23 euros, with Lyon Part-Dieu the primary station served in the city.
Trenitalia consolidating in France
With five new Paris–Lyon services, four daily Marseille trains, and the relaunch of Milan after 19 months of suspension, Trenitalia France is essentially firmly consolidating its foothold. That’s after the Maurienne landslide in August 2023 had threatened to derail its Franco-Italian ambitions; the line was cut for nearly two years, stopping its trains from passing between Milan and Lyon, killing its international service. And while it still managed to run services from Paris to Lyon in the interim, the landslide was estimated to cost FS, the owner of Trenitalia France, around eight million euros per month across passenger and freight.
The multiple unit tech on the iconic trains means the trains can now carry 900 passengers. © Trenitalia France
But the reopening of the Fréjus line earlier this year, coupled with steady expansion on French soil, has helped the operator rebound. At the same time, Trenitalia has been testing coupled Frecciarossas on the Paris–Lyon corridor, offering more than 900 seats per service while SNCF awaits its delayed TGV-M fleet, giving it far more flexibility in France when it comes to adapting to demand.
SNCF’s big competitor
In an increasingly competitive French rail market where Spain’s state-backed Renfe has recently been forced into a “phase of reflection” about its operations there, Trenitalia France is looking increasingly like one of the rare winners of liberalisation. Having absorbed setbacks, widened its network, and with plans to claim a third of Paris–Lyon frequencies, it’s fast becoming the first foreign challenger to carve out a durable share of France’s most competitive high-speed corridors.
And with FS now investing over 1.3 billion euros in a new generation of Frecciarossa 1000 trains designed for wider European interoperability — including France, Spain, Germany and potentially even the Channel Tunnel — Trenitalia’s plans to be one of Europe’s top international high-speed operators appear to be bearing fruit.
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