France’s SNCF has suspended one of its main international TGV services until further notice, as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The suspension took effect from yesterday and was reported in the Italian railway press.
It now means there must be a zero chance that Trenitalia will be able to launch its rival Milan-Paris daytime high-speed Thello service in June.
I say that especially as it has yet to receive approval from French rail regulator Arafer.
In other news Thello has suspended its two other trains running between France and Italy.
These are the daytime Marseilles-Milan service and the long-standing overnight service linking Paris with Venice via Milan.
Meanwhile Eurostar (which is majority owned by SNCF) is cutting a number of services on a daily basis following a significant decline in traffic.
For today (Thursday March 19) Eurostar is cancelling three trips to Paris and two to Brussels.
A Eurostar employee yesterday tweeted
21 years of #Eurostar-ing and today must have been my weirdest shift ever with 14 passengers on #Eurostar #ES9112, less than 1 per coach.4 stops where no one got on or https://t.co/jfVyfJO4fW catering staff (except 2) for a chat, empty galleys. #treinleven #traintwitter pic.twitter.com/4zKTnVDRtd
— EurostarJo (@TrainManagerJo) March 18, 2020
Photos tweeted by @TrainManagerJo show a 900-seater Siemens unit.
Eurostar also says that, with immediate effect, it will not be serving catering and drinks to passengers booked in Business and Standard Premier.
The onboard bar and buffet will be closed until further notice.
