Two new tourist trains between the Côte d’Azur and Italy this summer?
Hugues Mitton via Wikipedia
Trenitalia announced on 6 February its intention to create two new rail links in France.
One towards Milan and the other towards Turin. The Italian company’s two new projects were unveiled at a press conference held by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Nice. Its aim is clear: to improve its tourist-oriented offering to meet seasonal demand, in collaboration with the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. For the operator of a Paris – Lyon – Milan route since 2021, the ambition is “to reach Marseille or, who knows one day, Avignon,” said its Managing Director, Luigi Cantamessa.
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Along the coast, towards Milan
By summer 2024, it will be possible to travel from Marseille and Milan once a day. A tourist route run “in collaboration with the SNCF,” he told France 3 Côte d’Azur. While the stops along the way are still unclear, one thing is certain: Nice and Monaco are expected to be included, with a short stopover at the Italian border, in Ventimiglia. This is good news, reversing the decision to stop running Thello trains between the two cities, in 2021.
The ‘Train des Merveilles,’ Italian-style
A direct route from Nice to Turin? The equivalent of the Alpes Maritimes’ “Train des Merveilles,” revisited by the Italian operator, should start up from 2025. Passing through Breil-sur-Roya, the route would allow passengers to admire beauty of the Nice hinterland, with “fully glazed, panoramic carriages, similar to those on the Ferroviaire del Bernina,” he continued. In short, Trenitalia is packing quite the punch.
These projects appear to be in line with the agreement signed by the Southern Alps Cross-Border Alliance and the Italian railway company on 8 February to strengthen their cooperation, mainly in the transport field.