Thread by @jonworth

So the Thello night train Paris-Venice is no more

@BackOnTrackEU are rightly bemoaning its demise

But what *COULD* be done to solve this problem? And indeed many problems like this with absent night train services?

A 🧵

https://twitter.com/BackOnTrackEU/status/1413402378112573442

Paris-Milan-Venice (recently abandoned by Thello) and Paris-Rome (previously abandoned by Thello) are similar to Paris-Madrid and Paris-Barcelona (abandoned years ago by SNCF-Renfe)

In all cases the state owned rail firms (SNCF, Renfe, Trenitalia) would prefer to run high speed daytime trains, than slower, less profitable night trains

But that means rail's overall market share suffers, as rail firms focus on profitability of international routes instead

Particularly in the FR-IT case, the relationship between Trenitalia and SNCF is poor

SNCF was an early investor in Italo, the rival to Trenitalia on Milan-Rome

Trenitalia (via Thello) wants to run high speed trains on from December the French network

https://twitter.com/NicholasNCE/status/1410116117654380545

So going - as the letter does - hey governments of France and Italy, and the EU - fix this night train problem is, well, not really a solution

France will say "let SNCF run it"
Italy will say "let Trenitalia run it"

And the rail firms themselves don't want to run it...

... and will probably throw a load of barriers in the way of the ones from the other side running it

Meanwhile politicians don't really care about this - Paris-Nice or Rome-Palermo night trains are more important than Paris-Venice is

Were a liberalised railway to actually work, some other company altogether could have a go - a Snälltåget or a RegioJet

But they'd not get any rolling stock to run it, because neither SNCF nor Trenitalia (who supplied Thello) will give it to them...

So that's why I am running the @TrainsForEurope - to at least make sure there is a pool of new night train rolling stock carriages to lease, for use EU-wide, to allow an operator to step in to fill a gap like this

Political appeals to French or Italian politicians, or indeed to SNCF or Trenitalia, are all very well. But the incentive for any of them to really *act* and to solve this problem are very low

It's time for a re-think

/ends