New Rail Service to Link Milan & Marseille
The new service is run by the national rail company Thello
Since last Sunday it is now possible to travel the length of the Cote d'Azur by train starting from the Provence city of Marseille and ending in Italy in the city of Milan...all on just one train!
This daily service will travel in both directions and pass through the stations of Toulon, Les Arcs Draguignan, Saint Raphael, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco and Menton.
Although not an instant success on its maiden voyage on Sunday the service is still to promote itself and it still the first to offer this trans-alpine journey with no train or carrier change. Thello also operate the Paris-Milan-Venice line which was launched in 2011 and were the first private operator to compete with SNCF for passenger transport on this international route. Thello is still the first to launch a line between Marseille and Milan.
Albert Alday, the Director General of Thello says that he hopes passengers will find several advantages of this new service including "attractive and predictable" pricing; for example, a one-way second class ticket between Marseille and Milan will cost between 30 and 70 euros, from Nice, the prices range between 15 and 45 euros. However with a journey time of over seven hours this is also not a fast service. "Too long" admits Alday, who states that one of the priorities in the future will be to get a faster service running.
In the mean time, if you are looking for a trip to Milan for some Christmas shopping...this could be your chance for a few days get-away!
