"Take the train with a new company," the baseline of Thello, a Veolia Transdev and Trenitalia subsidiary is the first step of competition in international rail passengers services within the EU.
On December 11, 2011, the French-Italian rail company will operate a night train between Paris, Milan and Venice. It will leave Venice Santa Lucia station at 7:57 p.m. and will arrive at Paris Gare de Lyon at 8:14 am the next morning.
On the other side of the line, the Paris-Venice train will leave at 20:43 pm to be in Venice at 9:34 am the next morning. It will be a daily service in each direction.
"Closed doors" between France and ItalyThello will be operating through Dijon, Milan, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Padova and Venice Mestre, but as international cabotage is not allowed, it won't be possible to climb on board at these stations except in Milan. Only international routes are allowed. "Anyway, this is not the purpose of this international line," says a Thello representative.
Reservations will be open from October 17 on a soon to come website
www.thello.com site or by phone (+ 33 1 83 82 00 00). Thello only uses e ticketing system as there will be no sales booths. Only the booking reference has to be given to the crew. Travelers should arrive at the station 30 minutes before departure.
From € 35Three levels of comfort will be offered on Thello trains : the cheapest solution is a compartment with six berths (35 euros), an intermediate class is a compartment with 4 berths or you can get a sleeper with bed and sink for 1 to 3 passengers. Eventually, a fourth level of comfort will be available : sleeper with beds and a shower for 1 to 3 passengers.
Each train will have a restaurant with 36 seats, a bar and a takeaway service with sandwiches, drinks and sundries.
Robert Viennet
