Latest news with #Intercités
Local France
15-04-2025
- Local France
Revealed: France's five worst rail lines for delays and cancellations
Despite the fact that France's train operator SNCF has a generally positive reputation - especially among travellers from outside the country, dozens of elected officials and residents boarded Paris-bound 'trains of anger' on Tuesday to demand improvements and investment in rail services. The protesters were specifically focused on two lines - the Paris-Nevers-Clermont and Paris-Limoges routes, which have witnessed an increasing number of severe delays, disruptions and cancellations. Organisers hoped to gather between 500 and 800 demonstrators, along with rail workers, at Paris's Gare d'Austerlitz station. The Paris-Nevers-Clermont route has been branded 'one of the worst lines in France', with passengers reporting a four-hour delay on January 31st, and one of nearly three-and-a-half hours on March 1st. READ ALSO EXPLAINED: The Spring rail strikes that could hit train services in France According to data published by SNCF in 2024, and reported by Franceinfo , 10 percent of trains on this route were late or cancelled, which – for all the problems – actually puts it among the best performing lines. What is considered late? Confusingly, SNCF timekeeping rules consider that if a train's journey is more than three hours, that train is on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time. Furthermore, France's transport watchdog, the Autorité de régulation des transports , only classes a service as 'cancelled' if it is taken out of service after 4pm the day before it was due to run. With this in mind, here are the worst rail lines in France for delays and cancellations for TGV and Intercités services. Advertisement Paris-Austerlitz-Briançon In 2024, an astonishing 49 percent of trains between the capital and the Hautes-Alpes' commune were late or cancelled. In February alone, 90 percent of journeys arrived later than the 15-minute 'on-time' window. On March 14th, Minister for Transport Philippe Tabarot announced that 180 carriages and 27 locomotives will replace currently operating rolling stock – much of which is approaching 50 years old – by 2030. READ MORE: What are the rules around using phones on French trains? Paris-Nice A long journey, this one. Slow night trains take over 12 hours, while even the fastest TGV journey is closer to six than five hours. Of the 640 slower Intercités trains that ran between Paris-Austerlitz and Nice-Ville in 2024, one in three (33 percent) were late or cancelled, including half the services in June last year. Some, it was reported, were delayed by more than three hours. Advertisement Planned investment on the Paris-Briançon route is expected to benefit users of the Paris-Nice line. The two lines share the same section before separating, one towards the Hautes-Alpes, the other towards the Côte d'Azur. Bordeaux - Marseille The second busiest Intercités line in France faced similar levels of delays in 2024, when 31 percent of trains were delayed or cancelled. The reason: dilapidated rolling stock and infrastructure. According to regional newspaper La Provence, in January 2024, users of this line had to cope with a breakdown that caused three-hour delays on later journeys. READ MORE: 5 tips for surviving Deutsche Bahn's new Paris to Berlin 'direct' train link In December 2024, however, the French government announced that it would finance an order for 22 Oxygène trains from the Spanish manufacturer CAF. They are due to enter service by 2027. Advertisement Lyon - Marne la Vallée The apparently two-hour TGV service between Lyon Part-Dieu and Marne-la-Vallée, where you'll find Disneyland Paris, saw 24 percent of its trains delayed or cancelled in 2024. On average, trains were 30 minutes late on arrival at their terminus. According to SNCF, the majority of these delays were due to traffic management problems, followed by infrastructure problems and 'external causes'. Lyon - Lille In 2024, 23 percent of trains between Lyon and Lille were late or cancelled. On average, trains were 34 minutes late on arrival. According to SNCF, the majority of these delays were also due to traffic management and infrastructure issues. What recourse do I have if my train is delayed or cancelled? You may qualify for a full or partial refund. On high-speed domestic TGV InOui trains and regional Intercités services, you cannot get any refund for a delay of less than 30 minutes. However, you can get 25 percent of your ticket back for 30 minutes and two hours of delays; 50 percent of your ticket back for a delay of two to three hours; and 75 percent back for a delay of more than three hours. For budget OuiGo services, you do not qualify for compensation if the delay is under an hour. You can get 25 percent back for a delay of an hour to two hours, and you can get half of your ticket back for a delay of more than two hours. You can find instructions on the SNCF website.
Local France
11-03-2025
- Business
- Local France
Paris to Marseille from €27: Trenitalia opens summer train ticket sale
Trenitalia, the Italian rail company, opened ticket sales on Tuesday for trips in France during the upcoming summer period, as it seeks to expand its presence on the French rail network. 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'.
Local France
07-03-2025
- Local France
French rail tickets to go on sale for peak summer holiday period
Tickets for France's 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), SNCF announced on its website. Which tickets are going on sale? Budget-friendly tickets with France's Ouigo services will be available for the period of July 5 to December 13th, as well as those for the TGV InOui Sud-Est trains. As for trips on the TGV Lyria and Inoui journeys (to Spain or Italy), you will be able to book trips between July 5th and December 13th. For travel to Luxembourg, Fribourg or Brussels, you will be able to buy tickets up to August 31st. Meanwhile, for Deutsche Bahn Aktiengesellschaft customers, reservations are possible six months in advance. The benefits of buying tickets quickly... According to a study conducted by the ticket sales platform Trainline and reported by Le Parisien, TGV users are better off buying their tickets in the week that sales open to get the best prices, so mark your calendars. The most popular services – between Paris-Nice, Paris-Cannes, or Paris-Marseille – are known to sell out very quickly. You can also set up an alert to find out if tickets to your preferred destination have gone on sale via SNCF-Connect.
