See the section for France of
the Trento Bike Pages.
See similar information concerning Italy.
Bicycles and Trains in France
From a posting of Gary Mak (gmak@quasix.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de [til
June 1995]) to rec.bicycles.rides on Sun, 15 Jan
1995 17:18:45 GMT
See also the important note on Bicycles on Trains in
France, 1998 from Barbara Leonard's Bicycling à la
Française
This is an update about bicycling and trains in France. The
information was collected during a 6 week trip in July-August 1994.
To the cycling community: please feel free to modify, improve this
document for the good of all or include in a FAQ. Nearly all of this
information is from memory! Any useful additions or comments would be
interesting to me too. Please e-mail me directly as I no longer have
a USENET connection:
gmak@quasix.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de (til June 1995). Happy cycling,
Gary Mak.
Glossary
SNCF
French National railway company ("Societe
Nationale des Chemins de Feu" ?)
Trains/Rolling stock
TGV
high speed luxury train ("train a grande vitesse") with a peak
commercial speed of 180 mph. At present the main lines are:
TGV Atlantique (Paris-Brest), TGV Sud-Est (Paris-Lyon-Marseille,
Paris-Lyon-Grenoble), TGV Sud-West (Paris-Bourdeaux-Toulouse)
and a new service for points north of Paris (name?).
CORAIL
good comfort, air conditioned, moderate speed (average
service speed including stops is about 60 mph). These
trains are used on most other major city links.
T.E.R.
regional trains linking smaller cities to the main
transportation hubs like Paris, Toulouse, Nimes. Comfort
is marginal (no air conditioning) and the trains are slow.
Autocars (buses)
Buses are becoming an increasing part of the
small regional service, replacing trains.
They're also reasonably comfortable.
Suburban trains
like suburban trains nearly anywhere in the world,
they serve the suburbs and main tourist sights
surrounding large metropolitan areas like Paris.
Topology/Network
A rough topopolgy of the major rail lines in France can be found, for
example, in the Thomas Cooke European Rail Timetable. The best,
complete maps of the system are found in most SNCF literature
available in France (e.g. pamphlets on train times, price reductions
etc.). Pick-up some of these when you arrive in France, or perhaps
you can get the SNCF to send you some. These maps indicate all the
likely connections, service to smaller cities and the major
transportation hubs (which you will never be able to avoid!).
Language
Knowledge of the French language is invaluable for dealing with people
in smaller train stations and in the lugagge/bicycle claim office!
English is never officially used.
Train tarifs
The trains in France are very reasonably priced (in comparison to
Germany and Switzerland). The *average* train tarif, based on
distance and before other reductions, is $15CAD/100 km for Second
Class, 50% more for First Class. Using this tarif, you can decide
whether to take advantage of a rail pass. The most popular pass for
cyclists, who want to take the occasional large hop from one region to
another, or to get from Paris to the south of France, is the French
Railpass. It can be purchased for any 3, 4, 5, ... days of train
travel in one month. The "break-even" distance to use the pass, as
opposed to buying a point-to-point ticket is about 350 km/day. A
pass-bonus is that the traveller is exempt from TGV train fare
supplements ($10-20CAD), but one must still pay the mandatory
reservation fee. There is no price advantage to purchasing point-to-
point tickets from Eurail offices in North America unless you MUST
have a train reservation or you want to avoid TGV supplements. For
non-TGV trains, reservations are highly recommended on all CORAIL
trains in the south of France during the summer, unless you're alone,
resilient and don't mind sitting anywhere - including the floor.
Train Schedule Information
The "Thomas Cooke European Rail Timetable" is available in most
libraries of major North American cities, or you can order one for an
amazing amount of money. This handy manual contains the train
schedules of a bewildering number of destinations. If you must
preplan your trip to the hour, buy this book.
On the fly, there is always the information desks at every train
station, although English is normally only spoken at a large station.
This is normally mandatory if you need shipping information for your
bicycle. The SNCF has an excellent on-line computer system that will
tell you immediately, whether you can self-load your bicycle on a
particular train, shipping it for free WITH YOU.
The best alternative for general train information is the super-cool
"billeterie automatique". These automatic ticket machines are a
touch-screen driven, almost idiot proof way, for getting train
schedules, connections, purchasing tickets and reservations. They
accept cash or credit cards (VISA and Mastercard) and will print
tickets on the spot. I think you can also exchange or refund tickets.
English service is available by pressing the British Flag at the top
right-hand corner. In Paris there are two types of these machines:
one for normal train travel and one for only suburban trains.
Unfortunately, these niffty automatiques don't provide baggage/bicycle
shipping information.
Shipping Bicycles
Bicycles can normally be taken on local trains and feeder trains into
the major hubs. You must load and unload the bicycles yourself on and
off the baggage train. There is no extra charge. I was told, you can
also bring bicycles onto suburban Paris trains, off peak-hours.
In all other cases, bicycles must be shipped as accompanying baggage.
Bicycles are brought to the baggage desk where they are put in a
rather flimsy box. Bicycles are picked-up at the final destination's
baggage office. The cost (including the box) is 150 FF. Also, you
need not accompany the bicycle on the same train, but you do need
proof that you have a ticket to the final destination. Bicycles are
stored for free at the end station for a limited time (at least 10
days). When bicycles are shipped ahead they may take a different
route than your ticket (at the discretion of the SNCF) and may require
several days. Bicycles may sometimes not accompany the passengers on
trips requiring a train change, unless there is lots of time between
the connection.
On those lines which are now served by buses, bicycles are shipped
as accompanying baggage for free AT THE DISCRETION of the driver.
Cheers, Gary.