France: SNCF Starts Service Soon on Deep Discounted TGV Trains
Mar 28th, 2013, 11:05 AM
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France: SNCF Starts Service Soon on Deep Discounted TGV Trains
The SNCF - the French National Railways will put into service its rock-bottom discount TGVs - called Ouigo - a play perhaps on the English 'we go now' - with tickets as low as 19 euro from Paris to initially TGV stations of the country's most popular line - the Paris to Avignon, Arles, Montpelier and also to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille to start with.
So now when checking for the cheapst high-speed train to fit your needs check not only www.voyages-sncf.com - the old French Railways ,main site but also http://www.sncf.com/en/trains/ouigo - as well as www.igTGV.com though ouigo may be replacing idTGV>
Anyway book up to 3 months early and travel for a fraction of full fare - but these are train-specific and non-refundable I do believe.
Plane & Train complicates non-refundable tickets a bit as you never know exactly when you plane will land and your baggages come around on the carousel - so you have to leave fudge factor time in in case planes are late but then if they are you are left twiddling your thumbs a few hours but at least will not miss the train you have a non-changeable non-refundable ticket booked on and then after still have to buy a full-fare ticket to get to your destination.
Book your ducats now at the official ouigo site.
Bon Voyage!
http://www.sncf.com/en/trains/ouigo
So now when checking for the cheapst high-speed train to fit your needs check not only www.voyages-sncf.com - the old French Railways ,main site but also http://www.sncf.com/en/trains/ouigo - as well as www.igTGV.com though ouigo may be replacing idTGV>
Anyway book up to 3 months early and travel for a fraction of full fare - but these are train-specific and non-refundable I do believe.
Plane & Train complicates non-refundable tickets a bit as you never know exactly when you plane will land and your baggages come around on the carousel - so you have to leave fudge factor time in in case planes are late but then if they are you are left twiddling your thumbs a few hours but at least will not miss the train you have a non-changeable non-refundable ticket booked on and then after still have to buy a full-fare ticket to get to your destination.
Book your ducats now at the official ouigo site.
Bon Voyage!
http://www.sncf.com/en/trains/ouigo
Mar 28th, 2013, 11:19 AM
#2
People should know that Ouigo is not the same service as the TGV. They have crammed more seats into the cars, there is no snack service (not a loss) and major baggage limitations.
Also the trains do not leave from Paris but from suburban stations (same for Lyon). You need to factor in the cost of transportation to and from the stations that Ouigo is using.
Also the trains do not leave from Paris but from suburban stations (same for Lyon). You need to factor in the cost of transportation to and from the stations that Ouigo is using.
Mar 28th, 2013, 11:26 AM
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thanks for that very useful into - sounds like the new Italian trains in Italy - running from secondary stations though I think in Italy the new servcice is competition for Trenitalia, the state railways and thus the reason the newcomer uses secondary remote stations.
Mar 28th, 2013, 02:34 PM
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I believe that all of the Paris Ouigo trains depart from Marne-la-Vallée or Disney. The prices are really no different than are the iDTGV trains which also start at 19€. PREM tickets on regular trains can start as low as 25€.
Overall, the Ouigo service does not sound particularly revolutionary.
Overall, the Ouigo service does not sound particularly revolutionary.
Mar 28th, 2013, 06:10 PM
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I am looking to buy tickets from Paris to Brive on June 27. On the French site I see Prems tickets for 15€. If I change the site to "USA" I keep getting an error message. Any idea why that is? I know there have been numerous posts in the past about people having trouble buying tickets from the US. I don't even get anywhere close to the page where you put in credit card info before I get the error message.
If I choose UK instead of USA it re-directs me to Rail Europe but the tickets are the same price (12.50£) and seems like it would let me proceed. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that? I mean, I'm not from the UK but why should that matter? Or will there be a problem when I go to put in the credit card info?
If I choose UK instead of USA it re-directs me to Rail Europe but the tickets are the same price (12.50£) and seems like it would let me proceed. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that? I mean, I'm not from the UK but why should that matter? Or will there be a problem when I go to put in the credit card info?
Mar 28th, 2013, 06:54 PM
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If you want to purchase PREMs on www.voyages-sncf.com select either Afghanistan or Antarctica as your residence and continue in English, you´ll pay in euros. If you select USA as your residence, you´ll either be bumped to Raileurope USA or you´ll have other difficulties.
Doing as described above, you will not have the option of having tickets sent to you. Either print them yourself, if given the option, or pick them up anytime at any train station service window or SNCF boutique.
Doing as described above, you will not have the option of having tickets sent to you. Either print them yourself, if given the option, or pick them up anytime at any train station service window or SNCF boutique.
Mar 28th, 2013, 10:05 PM
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"the reason the newcomer uses secondary remote stations."
There's nothing remotely secondary or remote about Milan Porta Garibaldi, which is a far, far more convenient station to get to for most people in Lombardy than Centrale.
The same goes for Roma Tiburtina: again, for many people throughout Lazio, better located to drive to or get connecting public transport to than Termini.
I appreciate this forum's resident Brezhnev-area Communist is mentally incapable of getting his head round competition or customer choice, and regards Europe's boom in alternative train service providers as a capitalist heresy.
No doubt the use of State-owned monopoly providers explains why American public transport is so excellent. But not everyone wants to start their journey from the same place, and it's just silly to dismiss Italotreno's revitalisation of underused major railway stations.
There's nothing remotely secondary or remote about Milan Porta Garibaldi, which is a far, far more convenient station to get to for most people in Lombardy than Centrale.
The same goes for Roma Tiburtina: again, for many people throughout Lazio, better located to drive to or get connecting public transport to than Termini.
I appreciate this forum's resident Brezhnev-area Communist is mentally incapable of getting his head round competition or customer choice, and regards Europe's boom in alternative train service providers as a capitalist heresy.
No doubt the use of State-owned monopoly providers explains why American public transport is so excellent. But not everyone wants to start their journey from the same place, and it's just silly to dismiss Italotreno's revitalisation of underused major railway stations.
Mar 29th, 2013, 08:28 AM
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Non flaner I am summarizing what I read in professional journals - that Trenitalia refused to grant the new competitor access to its main stations like Termini for competitive reasons - so you may well be right I don't know but I do endorse the idea of public transport being a necessity much like roads, sidewalks and airports and should be subsidized by the state much like those other public transport things are.
Does not mean they should not let competition take place but if true subsidies and true cost-lowering measures were taken the state-owned and subsidized entity would win hands out.
Now the perpetual problem with state enterprises is that workers there thing working for the state is a license to work very little and get great pay and benefits - this has to be attacked - old British Rail was plagued by such simple laziness and entitlement attitudes - I would assume the replacement private franchises do a much better job of accountability.
In France, being a keen observer of cheminots - or railway workers tells me that until recent years SNCF was way over staffed - like the rule requiring multiple conductors on each train - I often still see a group of cheminots in orange du travail jump suits working on the tracks - several are usually gathered around looking at one guy do some petty job like tightening screws - begetting the old canard of a joke:
a joke that my once young son told me was circulating amongst kids - where kids in the joke were sitting around talking about what their dads did and what time the got off work and what time they actually got back home - "my dad is a waiter - he gets off work at 5 pm and gets home about 6 pm -
another says my dad works in the Paris Bourse and gets off work at 6 pm and gets home about 7 pm - a third chimes in 'my papa works for the SNCF - he works until 6 pm and gets home by 3 pm!"
Sadly that joke was symbolic of the SNCF excesses and unions padding jobs and being pretty lazy. Indeed when the ballyhooed 35 hour work week was imposed on France several years back it was shown then that the SNCF workers only worked an average of 27 hours!
Well even one of two SNCF Presidents landed up in jail.
But these state-owned systems I think have changed and streamlined so that they now act like private enterprises and deliver a good product at a good price - the discounted tickets are really cheap.
And moving folks from planes or cars to trains yes pays other benefits - less roads and airports to build at taxpayer expense and of course environmental benefits (which flaner poohpoohs claiming buses are more efficient in past posts than high-speed trains carrying hundreds of folks).
So there should be competitive on Europe's tracks but the state-owned entity should win out as taxpayer's moneys are used to subsidize what should be a public utility that all can afford to use and it should offer the most possible comfort, etc. The SNCF has it right - offer dirt-cheap fares on cramped trains or higher fares on spiffy new trains, etc.
Does not mean they should not let competition take place but if true subsidies and true cost-lowering measures were taken the state-owned and subsidized entity would win hands out.
Now the perpetual problem with state enterprises is that workers there thing working for the state is a license to work very little and get great pay and benefits - this has to be attacked - old British Rail was plagued by such simple laziness and entitlement attitudes - I would assume the replacement private franchises do a much better job of accountability.
In France, being a keen observer of cheminots - or railway workers tells me that until recent years SNCF was way over staffed - like the rule requiring multiple conductors on each train - I often still see a group of cheminots in orange du travail jump suits working on the tracks - several are usually gathered around looking at one guy do some petty job like tightening screws - begetting the old canard of a joke:
a joke that my once young son told me was circulating amongst kids - where kids in the joke were sitting around talking about what their dads did and what time the got off work and what time they actually got back home - "my dad is a waiter - he gets off work at 5 pm and gets home about 6 pm -
another says my dad works in the Paris Bourse and gets off work at 6 pm and gets home about 7 pm - a third chimes in 'my papa works for the SNCF - he works until 6 pm and gets home by 3 pm!"
Sadly that joke was symbolic of the SNCF excesses and unions padding jobs and being pretty lazy. Indeed when the ballyhooed 35 hour work week was imposed on France several years back it was shown then that the SNCF workers only worked an average of 27 hours!
Well even one of two SNCF Presidents landed up in jail.
But these state-owned systems I think have changed and streamlined so that they now act like private enterprises and deliver a good product at a good price - the discounted tickets are really cheap.
And moving folks from planes or cars to trains yes pays other benefits - less roads and airports to build at taxpayer expense and of course environmental benefits (which flaner poohpoohs claiming buses are more efficient in past posts than high-speed trains carrying hundreds of folks).
So there should be competitive on Europe's tracks but the state-owned entity should win out as taxpayer's moneys are used to subsidize what should be a public utility that all can afford to use and it should offer the most possible comfort, etc. The SNCF has it right - offer dirt-cheap fares on cramped trains or higher fares on spiffy new trains, etc.
Mar 29th, 2013, 04:19 PM
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The always cogent British travel journalist Simon Calder gave this description of the new scheme which he aptly describes as SNCF "third class":
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...e-8545498.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...e-8545498.html
Mar 29th, 2013, 04:25 PM
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<i>I am looking to buy tickets from Paris to Brive on June 27. On the French site I see Prems tickets for 15€. If I change the site to "USA" I keep getting an error message. Any idea why that is? </i>
if you can navigate the site in French you can get the tickets which will be confirmed to your e-mail; that's what I did for the price you quote.
if you can navigate the site in French you can get the tickets which will be confirmed to your e-mail; that's what I did for the price you quote.
Mar 30th, 2013, 08:03 AM
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I was finally able to get the tickets but it took quite a bit of trying different things. Apparently sncf prefers american express to visa. I do remember several threads in recent months where other people had trouble paying for tickets on the sncf sites.
So here is what I did (hopefully this will help the next person trying to do this). First I tried the tgv site. It was in English, I put in all the info, the tickets were 15€ each. When I put in the credit card info (VISA - Capital One) it was rejected. I tried again. Rejected. I called Visa, they said nothing had been rejected, they didn't see any attempt to charge anything. I did it again while on the phone with them. Rejected, they still don't see any attempt.
Then I went to the voyages-sncf.com I tried putting in UK as country, got all the way to the end but it wanted an address and it had to be a UK address. Closed that window and tried again, this time leaving it in French. Got all the way to the end, put in the Visa credit card info. Rejected.
At some point during all these attempts the 15€ tickets are gone and the price is now 30€.
OK, back to the tgv site, which has remembered the info I put in and still has the 15€ price, only this time when I get to the payment page I put in American Express. It works!!!
So here is what I did (hopefully this will help the next person trying to do this). First I tried the tgv site. It was in English, I put in all the info, the tickets were 15€ each. When I put in the credit card info (VISA - Capital One) it was rejected. I tried again. Rejected. I called Visa, they said nothing had been rejected, they didn't see any attempt to charge anything. I did it again while on the phone with them. Rejected, they still don't see any attempt.
Then I went to the voyages-sncf.com I tried putting in UK as country, got all the way to the end but it wanted an address and it had to be a UK address. Closed that window and tried again, this time leaving it in French. Got all the way to the end, put in the Visa credit card info. Rejected.
At some point during all these attempts the 15€ tickets are gone and the price is now 30€.
OK, back to the tgv site, which has remembered the info I put in and still has the 15€ price, only this time when I get to the payment page I put in American Express. It works!!!
