
Paris to Marseille from €27: Trenitalia opens summer train ticket sale
Notably, Trenitalia will begin operating a high-speed Paris-Marseille line from June 15th, with four daily round trips and stops along the way in Lyon, Avignon (TGV) and Aix-en-Provence.
One way tickets will begin at €27 for standard seats, while business seats will start at €37.
That said, the rail service will have dynamic pricing, as SNCF does with its high-speed TGV services, so ticket costs may change based on train occupancy and availability.
The rail company has already been running a route going from Paris to Lyon (and then to Milan) for the last three years, but it is planning to add an additional round-trip service on this route from June 15th.
Previously, the Lyon to Milan connection had been closed due to a landslide in the Maurienne Valley in the summer of 2023, but this service is expected to resume from April 1st.
You can find ticketing information on the Trenitalia website.
Meanwhile, tickets for France's own SNCF high-speed TGV InOui and Intercités trains will go on sale on Wednesday, March 12th for travel during the peak summer holiday period (between July 5th and August 31st).
These can be purchased on the SNCF website.
Any plans for the future?
Trenitalia is also considering "intensifying its efforts on the south-east axis", Fabrice Toledano, the Sales and Marketing Director for Trenitalia told French daily Le Parisien.
They hope to optimise the running of current trains before considering other connections, but the train company is reportedly considering extending the Paris-Marseille line to Nice, Genoa and Milan.
However, this "will not take place in 2025 (...) We already have a lot of new features, we do not have the ability to extend the service at this stage," Marco Caposciutti, the head of Trenitalia France told Le Parisien.
As for new routes in France, the company is 'studying these projects in the long term'.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Local France
10 hours ago
- Local France
8 big problems that France faces this autumn
September in France marks la rentrée - when the kids go back to school, adults go back to work and the parliament starts a new term. It's traditionally a time for new ideas, fresh initiatives and planned legislation - but a highly combustible political situation, not to mention international tensions, make this year especially difficult. Battle over the budget France still has a significant budget deficit to address. The country finally managed to pass its 2025 budget in February, after the first version brought down Michel Barnier's government at the end of December. This year, the same challenge remains. In July, French Prime Minister François Bayrou gave an overview of what a possible 2026 budget could entail, intending to cut spending by €40 billion. Advertisement Bayrou floated plans such as cutting two public holidays and freezing spending increases (including on pensions and health), except for debt servicing and the defence sector. However, Bayrou's proposed cuts have not been popular amongst opposition parties, and the budget could end up bringing down another government. Debates in parliament begin in late September/early October. READ MORE: OPINION: Bayrou's budget has infuriated everyone and may force France into fresh elections Strikes and protests French unions have opposed Bayrou's proposals for budget cuts, and there is a possibility of large-scale mobilisation in September. The country's third-largest union, Force Ouvrière, has issued a strike notice for three months in autumn in response to cost-cutting measures announced by the prime minister. A meeting of France's inter-syndical - the group representing all the country's major unions - is scheduled for September 1st, and it's possible that other unions could join FO's action. Meanwhile, a previously unknown online group has issued a call for a complete blockade of the country from September 10th, which appears to be rapidly gaining traction. It remains to be seen how disruptive the action could be. Agriculture law (Loi Duplomb) While the piece of agricultural legislation known as the Loi Duplomb has been signed into law , it is possible there will be pushback as its key provisions begin to be enacted. The law caused a great deal of controversy in France, with more than 1 million people signing a petition to scrap it, in large part due to plans to reintroduce the bee-killing pesticide acetamiprid. Ultimately, France's Constitutional Council, the country's highest court, struck down the contested pesticide provision. However, the final version of the law also includes plans to change the rules on water storage , a topic that has also become more controversial as more parts of France suffer from increasing temperatures and drought each summer. Water supplies have already started to become a flashpoint - there were violent clashes in the south-west town of Sainte-Soline where giant underground water storage basins were being built in 2023. Advertisement Start of EES The EU is due to bring in its new Entry & Exit System (EES) on October 12th, 2025, with a six-month phased introduction. EES will require passengers to give biometric details, including fingerprints and a facial scan, and an automated passport scanning to keep track of time spent in the EU for those covered by the 90-day rule. Although the system covers all of the EU's external borders, there are particular worries about the busy UK-France border. READ MORE: Travel to France: Your questions answered about EES And ETIAS Trump tariffs The EU seems to have struck a deal with Washington for a 15 percent tariff on EU goods entering the US market - but this is more of an outline agreement and negotiations continue on certain sectors. As such, it is unclear when the tariffs would actually come into force. Overall, France is not one of the worst-affected EU countries - Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to be the worst hit - but there are some areas and industries that would be hit especially hard. In 2024, French exports to the US were driven by aeronautics, beverages (wine and Cognac) , and pharmaceuticals. READ MORE: Why Normandy is the French region hardest hit by US tariffs Brexit cards As the first post-Brexit residency permits - known as the Article 50 TUE cartes de séjour or WARP cards - begin to reach their expiration dates at the end of 2025 and early 2026, the French government must soon announce instructions for card renewals. Advertisement Brits who were living in France prior to Brexit and have the five-year card should benefit from a simplified renewal process as outlined in the Withdrawal Agreement - but at present it not clear exactly how the card renewals will be done (eg online or in person, using a special website or the standard ANEF site). The Local has been in touch with the Interior Ministry to ask about procedures for renewals. READ MORE: Latest: What's the deal with renewing the post-Brexit carte de séjour Immigration law As for other residency-related questions - as part of the 2024 immigration law, the French parliament voted to bring in stricter language requirements for certain residency cards and French nationality, from January 2026. READ MORE: Your questions answered: New French language requirements for foreigners Those making their first application for a carte de séjour pluriannuelle (multi-year card, max duration of four years) will from January need to demonstrate a French level of at least A2 according to the DELF/ CERL international language scale. Those making their first application for a 10-year carte de résident (in most cases, available after five years of consecutive residency) will need to demonstrate at least B1 level in French - an increase from the previous requirement of A2. Those applying for French citizenship will need to demonstrate at least B2 level in French, instead of the previous requirement of B1. Citizenship applications from January 1st will also involve a written civics exam, with the details to be announced in the coming weeks. As such, préfectures have a lot of preparation to do this autumn, and many are dealing with significant backlogs. It is possible that the culmination of several new requirements could lead to more delays. READ MORE: New law: What's changing and what's staying the same for French citizenship? International situation This isn't a France specific problem of course, but the international situation remains tense. France has taken a lead when it comes to military aid to Ukraine, with France and the UK - as Europe's two major military powers - agreeing to a 'reassurance force' to be deployed in the country. The situation in Gaza shows no sign of improving and president Emmanuel Macron has pledged that France will formally recognise the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. France, which has both Europe's largest Jewish population and its largest Muslim population, remains on high alert for the potential for the conflict to spark unrest or terrorists threats within Europe.


AFP
16 hours ago
- AFP
Posts falsely claim Toyota has unveiled a water-powered engine
'In a move that will shake up the global auto industry, Toyota has just unveiled a water-powered engine powered by hydrogen created through electrolysis, emitting only water vapor! No lithium. No charging stations…With this bold move, Toyota isn't just competing with EVs — they're declaring the end of the battery era,' reads a Facebook post shared more than 250 times since it was published on June 28, 2025. The post contains a collage of two photos, one showing a man in a suit appearing to present the water engine and the other of a Toyota-branded engine, with a photo of Chinese president Xi Jinping superimposed. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on August 11, 2025 AFP Fact Check debunked similar claims in French and Bulgarian. In the race for zero-emission vehicles — particularly between electric and hydrogen cars — the hope that water could one day replace fuel is a popular idea that has resurfaced in recent years. But this hypothesis has never been supported by solid scientific evidence, as AFP Fact Check previously explained in this debunk. The claim that Toyota is developing a water-powered engine is false. Hydrogen vehicles Toyota has not made any public announcements "unveiling" a water engine, as the post claimed. "We are not developing anything that could be described as a 'water engine'," Jean-Yves Jault, a representative of the Toyota Motor Corporation, said in an email to AFP on July 23. Jault called the claims circulating online "false information" and referred to a Forbes article that refutes the rumor (archived here). Toyota produces vehicles that use hydrogen as fuel. These cars, like the Mirai model, are fueled at specialised stations and equipped with lithium-ion batteries to store and manage energy (archived here). Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer and the author of the Forbes article, explained that "water as the power source for a vehicle is nonsense'. 'Although water can be an energy source, it is not a fuel. Water is actually the combustion product of hydrogen, which is a fuel. Water is produced when hydrogen is burned. Water can function as an energy source in some situations,' he added. Electrolysis process Electrolysis is a process where an electric current is passed through a substance to trigger a chemical reaction, splitting water molecules (H₂O) into hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂). The process requires a significant amount of electricity and is only effective when there is a stable energy source (archived here). Electrolysis does not produce energy; it consumes it to produce hydrogen, which is then used to power fuel-cell vehicles. Therefore, there must be a source of electricity, such as a battery, for electrolysis to work inside a car engine. 'But such a scenario would be inefficient, because each energy conversion stage involves efficiency losses. That's basic thermodynamics. Rather than use a battery to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, which then has to be converted into energy to power a car, it would be far more efficient (and practical) just to use the initial electricity directly without the conversion steps,' Rapier wrote in his article. Image Graphic explaining the steps necessary to produce green hydrogen, a source of energy seen as an option to decarbonize some heavy-polluting industries (AFP / Tatiana MAGARINOS, Gustavo IZUS) Several experts also confirmed this process to AFP Fact Check. Professor Plamen Punov of Sofia Technical University, who supervises student projects on hydrogen fuel cells, noted that the hydrogen used as fuel is not produced directly inside the vehicle (archived here). 'All these cars produce electricity in fuel cells that use pure hydrogen, pre-charged in bottles. I am not aware of such a vehicle existing, and theoretically it would be extremely inefficient and impractical," he wrote in an email to AFP Fact Check on July 7, 2025. Professor Boriana Tsaneva, a PhD in chemistry at the same university, also confirmed to AFP Fact Check via email that 'it is technically possible to use electrolysis to harness the residual energy of a moving vehicle', but this option is 'economically unreasonable'. Aside from the high costs and additional weight from installing an electrolysis cell and other components on board, Tsaneva added that the explosive gas mixture produced would be incredibly dangerous. This mixture cannot be stored safely and needs to be added immediately after production, she noted. Furthermore, the usable energy produced from burning the gas mixture is negligible. Water as coolant, not fuel The confusion likely stems from a patent filed by Toyota in 2023 for a hydrogen engine with a water-cooled system. In this design, water is used as a coolant instead of the traditionally used air, not as a fuel (archived here). This system better controls the high temperatures created by hydrogen combustion. By lowering temperatures, manufacturers can use lighter materials in the combustion chambers and cylinders, thus improving engine efficiency and reducing weight. The Toyota Mirai follows the manufacturer's current technology: a hydrogen fuel cell that generates electricity to power an electric motor (archived here). Hydrogen is stored in reservoirs under high pressure, and the vehicle is recharged at specialised stations. The only byproduct of converting hydrogen into electricity is water vapour. The car does not have an electrolysis system to produce hydrogen from water. It is equipped with a lithium-ion battery. Toyota also uses electrolysis to produce hydrogen at some of its facilities, but this process takes place outside the vehicles, not inside them (archived here). As part of a long-term strategy toward carbon-neutral vehicles, Toyota is taking a multi-pronged approach. This includes the development of hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen-powered combustion engines, and solid-state batteries, which could offer better performance for safety, range and power (archived here). Battery-powered electric vehicles dominate the zero-emission transport market, due to their affordability, higher fuel efficiency, and growing charging infrastructure (archived here). However, some automakers, including Toyota, are considering hydrogen-powered cars as a complementary solution for heavy-duty transportation and long-distance travel. Their large-scale development remains limited by high production costs and a still-underdeveloped refuelling network. Most analysts agree that the future of zero-emission mobility will rely on a mix of technologies: Batteries will remain the preferred option for passenger cars, while hydrogen could play a strategic role in specific sectors, such as long-haul trucks, heavy-duty vehicles and certain industrial uses (archived here). AFP has debunked other claims about the existence of water-powered cars here and here.


Local France
19 hours ago
- Local France
What gets cancelled during heatwaves in France?
If temperatures soar, the national weather service (Météo France) will issue a heat-related warning on a scale of yellow (exercise caution), orange (be very vigilant), and red (possible danger to life). READ MORE: Explained: What does a red weather warning mean in France? These warnings are issued by département via Météo France's 'vigilance' map , which they update daily, and they come with various advice for how to stay safe. Local authorities may open special air-conditioned cool-off areas, and they may increase opening hours for parks and other shady areas. Advertisement On the other hand, local authorities, businesses and event organisers may choose to close during a heatwave. Hiking in the mountains Heatwaves can coincide with increased forest fire risk. Météo France also issues a forest fire risk map . If an area is deemed at higher risk for wildfires, local authorities may issue a décret closing off certain massifs (mountain ranges) to non-essential personnel. On top of that, hiking in extreme temperatures can be very dangerous, particularly if you are in an area with little tree cover. Access to forests and natural parks can also be closed due to a risk of wildfire. READ MORE: How to stay safe when hiking in France in the summer Train travel While it remains uncommon for French rail services to cancel large swathes of scheduled train journeys due to high temperatures, heatwave-related cancellations and delays are becoming more common, especially on lines with older trains, like the Intercités and TER (regional) train services. Train journeys may be cancelled due to concerns related to adequate air conditioning. Similarly, trains may be cancelled or delayed due to high temperatures causing the steel rails to deform, which can cause damage and possibly lead to derailments. The hot temperatures can also force trains to run slower, in order to avoid engines overheating. Before heading to the train station during a heatwave, be sure to check the status of your train online. Always pack extra water in case of delays. READ MORE: Should I worry my French train will be cancelled during a heatwave? As for public transportation - in Paris, the city public transport runs during heatwaves, but lines can be disrupted or services suspended if a passenger collapses and requires medical attention - which is why you will hear lots of announcements encouraging you to stay hydrated on the hottest days. Advertisement Dechetteries (Recycling centres) Waste collection centres often close or alter their operating hours when temperatures climb. Closures and altered hours are meant to protect staff, as many dechetteries are highly exposed to the sun with little to no shade. Fireworks displays If there is a risk of wildfires in addition to the heatwave, then local authorities may ban fireworks displays in order to prevent a possible fire. Small businesses and restaurants Currently, it is not common to see shops and restaurants close during heatwaves, despite the fact that some work (eg cooking in a non-air-conditioned kitchen) can be very dangerous at high temperatures. This may soon change. In July, France brought in new legislation requiring employers to take more precautions to ensure that their employees are safe in the heat, which could include altering working hours (and therefore opening hours of a public site). Therefore, you may notice more businesses opting to close or change their hours once temperatures reach 35C or higher. Tourist attractions The decision to close or alter hours at tourist destinations is usually up to local authorities or the private operator. Some tourist destinations may instead change their offering slightly. For example, in July, the Eiffel Tower closed its summit to the public in order to ensure visitors' and staff safety, but they left the first and second floors open. People with tickets to the summit were reimbursed. Schools If a heatwave hits outside of the summer holidays, it could lead to school closures, particularly if the school is not adequately prepared to handle high temperatures. Parents will be informed of any closures ahead of time. Events A red alert gives local authorities the power to cancel large public events such as music festivals if they think the heat poses a danger to attendees. Likewise, organisers may cancel if they believe they cannot keep visitors safe. Similarly, local authorities can cancel sporting events if the heat is seen as too extreme. Open-water swimming areas Heatwaves often lead local authorities to make access to swimming pools free or at a reduced price . However when it comes to wild swimming or open-air swimming sites, high temperatures can lead to increased concentrations of bacteria, dangerous algae, and jellyfish. Local authorities may have to close swimming areas if the conditions become unsafe.