It has been clear for some time that the train is the means of transport of the future. But that it could even bring the British to ski in the French Alps is a novelty of a few days ago, which will make its debut in the next winter season. The Compagnie des Alpes, in agreement with Eurostar, the high-speed train that has connected London to Paris and Brussels through the Channel Tunnel since the beginning of the XNUMXs, has in fact launched a new tailor-made rail link for Londoners who want to a white week in the suggestive alpine sceneries. The new line, entirely private and intended exclusively for the customers of the Travelski tour operator, will be called Travelski Express e will connect London to 12 French ski resorts in just a few hours on weekends, with one outward and one return journey every seven days. The localities concerned are La Plagne, Val d'Isère, Flaine, Les Arcs, Tignes, Méribel, Serre Chevalier Vallée, Les Menuires, Samoëns, Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, Morillon, Peisey-Vallandry.
The project is 100% funded (but the amount has not been disclosed) by The Compagnie des Alpes, a French company founded in 1989 that deals with the development and promotion of tourism and the real estate market in the mountains, listed on the Stock Exchange and controlled by the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which would be the transalpine Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. A similar service had initially been entrusted to Eurostar, which however had to give up as it was in a dramatic financial situation due to Covid: the company came close to bankruptcy a few months ago, saving itself thanks to a capital increase of almost 300 million euros, supported by shareholders and banks. And not even the historic French national railway group, SNCF, is experiencing a great moment: precisely in the days of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the first TGV Paris-Lyon (September 22, 1981, connecting the two cities in 2h40 which later became 2 hours), the company is still feeling the effects of the pandemic and has announced 2.000 to 3.000 redundancies.
The TGV, the first high-speed train in Europe (second in the world only to Japan, with the Shinkansen inaugurated in 1964), then became the Paris-Lyon-Marseille and extended over a total network of 2.700 km throughout Europe , transporting over 40 billion travelers in 3 years. Forerunner of our Frecciarossa, it is now being surpassed by students: unlike SNCF, Fs is in excellent health and just a few days ago it announced a greater presence on the French market, with two connections a day Milan-Turin-Lyon-Paris. Who knows, maybe Italy won't be able to bring some English on a ski week too.
