RER B to CDG Question
 

On Saturday, my daughter took the RER B from CDG to St. Michel-Notre Dame. Although the Thursday transit workers strike was over, she had to change trains at Gare du Nord. We did not have to do that when we arrived 3.5 weeks earlier. Has there been a permanent change requiring a change of trains? Or do some trains continue straight through and others not? We are interested in knowing what to expect when she returns to CDG early this coming Saturday morning, as well as when we make the trip early on Sunday.

No there is not a permanent change. Was their an announcement, and does your daughter speak French? Did she look at the board above the train at CDG indicating where the train would be stopping?

All of the RER trains from CDG continue through at least Denfert-Rochereau so that shouldn't have been an issue.

Either their was a problem with the particular train, a problem with the line, track work, or your daughter somehow was mistaken.

For your trips back to CDG remember to look at the boards on the line that tell the stops the train will be making. First you need to make sure you get on the CDG spur and not the Mitry-Claye one. Secondly from St. Michel-Notre Dame there will be a train that only stops at Chatelet and Gare Du Nord before heading directly to CDG versus a train that stops at every station on the way to the airport.

There are some cases where you must change trains at Gare du Nord anyway. No big deal. The great majority of trains go through without incident.

Thank you, MrNuke.

Everyone on the train was told to get off and to go to another specific designated track, so I don't think she misunderstood.

At CDG, the ticket-seller at the guichet told her to take whatever train was leaving first because they all go to St.M-ND.

Kerouac--With her luggage, she would prefer not to have to change trains, so I will have her look at the destination board to see if it indicates whether a particular train will go all the way to CDG.

The electronic signboard over the platform indicates exactly which stations the train will be stopping at.

You generally only have to change trains at Gare du Nord when there is a technical problem, not necessarily a strike.

It sounds like a technical issue which occasionally, but not frequently will happen.

Yes they all go to St. Michel- Notre Dame from CDG, but one train makes 12 stops and the other train makes 3 before St. Michel-Notre Dame. The same applies in reverse for the trip back to the airport.

If she/you gets on at St. Michel again she needs to make sure the train is going to CDG and not Mitry-Claye. As Kerouac said the stations the train stops at are indicated on the board.

Yes, we understand about how RER platforms inform about which stations are served. We have been using RER C for almost four weeks now to zip across city.

Today, the train announcement for the next RER C that would stop at Avenue Foch (our destination) was posted on the left track as you faced down the platform and a different train, not headed toward Av Foch and beyond, was posted for the other track--but when a train arrived on the right-side track, the posting was changed--fortunately we noticed the change--and IT turned out to be the train we needed. The sudden switch in track assignments alomst caught us by surprise.