Direct train Geneva to Milan

RicF

As a regular user of direct train Geneva to Milan I have two questions:
1) what happened to 07:30ish train in the morning? Why has it been removed? It was for me the most convenient to have a meeting in Milan just after lunch and then going back with the late afternoon train.
2) lenght of travel - how is that now the fastest train is 4h21? Longer than past few years and much longer than 15 years ago.

Why is this connection structuraly deteriorating year after year while Europe strategic choice is to invest in rail?

Appreciate any perspective

Danhiel

Hello RicF

This is really a strategic invest, but in this case for freight. All tunnels of this line will be enlarged to transport bigger containers. Same works were made in Switzerland about 30 years ago…

Kind Regards
Danhiel

Krist

The simple answer is the Italian Railways, which have decided to modernise the line a small piece at a time, which will take decades to finish. After that we might see more and faster trains.

Krist

Danhiel This is really a strategic invest, but in this case for freight.

I know it is. But couldn’t they do it like eg SBB or DB do it, and just close the whole line for half a year and do everything? Right now what they do is close the line for a few hours every day, and that for the next couple of decades…

Danhiel

Krist

It would probably also be possible to work only on the half of a tunnel with a mobile wall to protect the construction site and let run the trains on the other track in both directions, but it would be necessary to modernize first the signalisation.

RicF

Thanks for your perspective… looks like I only need to wait a decade 🤣

RicF

But still I don’t understand why removing the 07h37 train Monday to Friday… that is actually kept for the week-end.

Krist

Because they do not work on the line in the weekend, so they can run more trains…