To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the TGV, the SNCF had exhibited in the Gare de Lyon in Paris, in September during the Heritage Days, the mythical orange train number 16, holder of the first world record for speed on rail: 380 km / h in 1981… when the SNCF was the only queen of the French tracks. A few weeks later, it was a completely different racing car that appeared at Gare de Lyon: the “Red Arrow”, the Frecciarossa of the Italian public company Trenitalia, completed its testing phase. By Christmas, the competitor will attack the busiest line in France towards Lyon and Milan. “Frecciarossa, the pleasure of a new journey”, already proclaims a huge illuminated advertisement hanging just above the departure board.
The rail battle has therefore begun… and the SNCF has already lost a round in Marseille on Thursday 28 October. The elected representatives of the South region have entrusted the Marseille-Nice line to Transdev, a private company, a subsidiary – after all! – the public group Caisse des Dépôts. It was ” a shock ! ” for Christophe Fanichet. The CEO of the SNCF Voyageurs subsidiary thus lost the first call for tenders launched by a region – they are responsible for the Regional Express Trains (TER). Transdev’s offer was attractive: in 2025 it will allow twice as many trains to run every day, at an almost equivalent cost, 870 million euros paid by the region over ten years.
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