Competition is at the heart of the European Union's (EU) roadmap in the field of transport. In rail transport competition started late and took time to deploy. Just now, some years after the 4th railway package, competition is becoming a Europe-wide affair rather than a collection of single – and often small and short-lived – national experiences. Today it is possible to draw a first picture of how open-access rail competition will be in the coming years. The paper starts providing an overview of the varied experiences of “on track” competition in Europe to date, on a country basis. Based on that, some general discussion is drawn. Then the paper focuses on a new case, the entry of the Italian company Trenitalia in France, on the main country’s route, the Paris-Lyon. The characteristics of the newcomer’s business model are recalled and its medium-term profitability is studied through a model.