New SNCF competitor set to arrive in France in 2028
Start-up rail operator Velvet plans services linking Paris with Bordeaux, Nantes, Angers and Rennes
Published
A new French high-speed rail operator is set to challenge SNCF starting in 2028 by providing connections between Paris and four other French cities.
Velvet, a railway operator, received its railway operating licence in September from the French transport ministry and now plans to connect Paris with Bordeaux, Nantes, Angers and Rennes starting in 2028.
The licence is one of two key authorisations required to operate passenger trains commercially in France. Velvet still needs a Certificat de Sécurité Unique (Single Safety Certificate - CSU), which confirms that it has adequate safety procedures and risk controls, before it can begin commercial services.
“From the very beginning, we have made safety a reflex: every design decision and every operational choice is assessed against this standard. It is this commitment to excellence that will enable our passengers to board with complete confidence,” Rachel Picard, co-founder and president of Velvet said in a press release.
Velvet also said the licence will allow it to move ahead with preparations for its future services, including arranging train paths, the specific times and routes allocated to trains.
The company was founded by Ms Picard, a former senior SNCF executive, and Tim Jackson, who previously led RATP’s UK activities, and said it aims to add capacity rather than simply take passengers away from SNCF, with plans to provide around 10 million additional seats a year on the four routes.
Meanwhile, the operator has already ordered 12 Avelia Horizon high-speed trains from French manufacturer Alstom.
The new service could bring good news for travellers, as up until now SNCF has effectively had a monopoly on these routes, with no direct high-speed competitor. The introduction of a new competitor could bring down prices for travellers, while offering more travel options.
Since the opening up of competition in the French domestic rail market, other companies have begun challenging SNCF’s dominance on other routes. Italy’s Trenitalia already operates high-speed services between Paris, Lyon and Marseille, while Le Train and Kevin Speed are developing their own services.
However, Velvet would be the first direct competitor on the Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Nantes, Paris-Angers and Paris-Rennes routes.
The arrival of competition on these routes could mean more trains and departure times for passengers, as well as putting pressure on operators to offer more attractive fares and improve their services.
A similar situation is also possible on cross-channel train routes, with Trenitalia planning to launch Paris-London services by 2029, while British operator Virgin is preparing to launch services on the same route the following year.
