Failed purchasing some tickets on the web site, so ordered them over the phone and had them mailed.

If anyone else has this problem, here is the number:

08 92 35 35 35

Can you tell us what kind of problems you encountered when trying to purchase thru the website? Do you speak French or do the agents answering the phone speak English?

There is an English line. The "cheap" number someone gave me is 1016868, but I haven't used it.

1016868 isn't a number for the SNCF; it's a cheap way to make long distance calls, whether domestic or international.

For example, to make a cheap call to the SNCF number from the USA, you'd dial 1016868-011-33, then the SNCF number.

If you use the phone number given by RonZ, omit the initial zero if you're calling from outside France. It is only used for calls originating in France.

So the English number for SNCF from the U.S. is 011-33-8-92-35-35-39? That's the most recent I have.

Underhill,

I haven't called either RonZ's number ending in 35 or yours ending in 39, but I've read references to both of them.

The one ending in 39 is for francophones. The one ending in 35 is for English speakers (and maybe other non-French-speaking people).

As of March 2009, the following SNCF numbers listed here and on other forums I've seen do NOT seem to work (using Skype from the US):

33 8 92 35 35 35 AND 33 8 92 35 35 39

Currently the site voyages-sncf.com is down as well. (Grrr)

I'll report back if/when I make some headway.

I hope you don't have as much trouble as I did last night. See my posts at http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-is-down.cfm?8 (I hope that's right - still getting used to new format)

At one point last night I called the 8 92 35 35 39 number and was given a choice of French or English. But I could not get to a live person. The message said to call back between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm (their time, of course).