Ouigo Train Classique

[megilleland]

France launches €10 cross-country train service
The French national rail operator SNCF is offering a new low-cost long-distance service to passengers, in a bid to compete with budget airlines and cars. Trains depart from Marne-la-Vallée to the east of the French capital – almost 20 miles away from central Paris.

Services will connect Paris to Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier on the south coast, with tickets starting from €10/ £8.70, significantly cheaper than tickets for the normal TGV train.

[invalid link regarding bicycle carriage removed; see posts below]

A rough translation is below.

4.1.3 Price

For Extra Baggage, the Passenger must subscribe to the corresponding option pricing conditions defined below.

If the Option is purchased during the Initial Order, the amount of this option rises by OUIGO ticket, € 5 per luggage Added.

If the Option is purchased at the time of a change in the Initial Order, the amount of this option rises by ticket OUIGO to:
- € 10 Extra luggage if the subscription is made on the Site OUIGO;
- Additional 20 € per luggage if the subscription is made to the Customer Relations Centre;

If the traveler who comes to reception operations and control has not subscribed to the corresponding option, he must pay an additional fee which amounts to 40 € Extra luggage would be accepted edge.

This price applies for Extra Luggage and career. The Traveler is invited to think, when the Order to any Additional Baggage he would bring his journey.

[Mr.Benton]

I have just come across ouigo classic train services. There are two new routes, Paris to Nantes and Paris to Lyon. Although they don't take bikes yet, they are planning to offer bike carriage in a few months.
https://www.ouigo.com/content/lancement ... -classique

[Psamathe]

threads merged

[MrsHJ]

Call me a sceptic but new low cost trains and will eventually take bikes in the same sentence makes me highly suspicious.

[Will]

I think things are going to get better with regard to taking bikes on trains in France in the next few years.

A law was adopted in France at the start of 2021 called Loi d’orientation des Mobilités (or LOM for short). Under it's many provisions is a requirement for all new and refurbished national and regional trains to have a minimum of 8 bike spaces per train:

https://www.tavsystems.com.au/france-ge ... rmodality/

SNCF placed an order for 100 new TGV-M trains (for INOUI) in 2016, with the first new trains expected to be in service in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024. Technically they do not come under the LOM act as they were ordered before March 2021, but SNCF have already declared that they will include between 6 and 8 bike spaces per TGV-M.

I would expect that some of the existing TGV trains that will be replaced by the new TGV-M trains will be cascaded down to OUIGO. If they undergo a major refurbishment (contracted after March '21) before being rolled out by OUIGO then they would be covered by the LOM legislation and would be required to include 8 bike spaces per train.

Will

[simonhill]

What we need is long distance cross border high speed trains going South. A geriatrics special from London to somewhere like Malaga would realistically start eating into some the mid haul flying.

I'd take one if it was convenient and straight through. Decent restaurant car, plenty of toilets and a good size baggage car.

Paris to xxx means getting to Paris first.

[millimole]

What we need is long distance cross border high speed trains going South. A geriatrics special from London to somewhere like Malaga would realistically start eating into some the mid haul flying.

I'd take one if it was convenient and straight through. Decent restaurant car, plenty of toilets and a good size baggage car.

Paris to xxx means getting to Paris first.

Spain uses a different gauge to the rest of the world* - Iberian. The only compatible line is the Perpignan to Barcelona high speed line (I gather the newer high speed lines are built to mixed gauge although I don't think standard gauge trains use them) .
This is why they have the gauge changing sheds where axles were swapped on coaches & wagons for cross border services.

There is also a narrow gauge network in Spain.

*Iberian gauge is 1668mm, standard gauge is 1435mm.

[Jdsk]

I think things are going to get better with regard to taking bikes on trains in France in the next few years.

A law was adopted in France at the start of 2021 called Loi d’orientation des Mobilités (or LOM for short). Under it's many provisions is a requirement for all new and refurbished national and regional trains to have a minimum of 8 bike spaces per train:

https://www.tavsystems.com.au/france-ge ... rmodality/

Thanks. Very interesting.

I'll have a chat with The Man in Seat 61.

Jonathan

[Will]

What we need is long distance cross border high speed trains going South. A geriatrics special from London to somewhere like Malaga would realistically start eating into some the mid haul flying.

I'd take one if it was convenient and straight through. Decent restaurant car, plenty of toilets and a good size baggage car.

Paris to xxx means getting to Paris first.

Spain uses a different gauge to the rest of the world* - Iberian. The only compatible line is the Perpignan to Barcelona high speed line (I gather the newer high speed lines are built to mixed gauge although I don't think standard gauge trains use them) .
This is why they have the gauge changing sheds where axles were swapped on coaches & wagons for cross border services.

There is also a narrow gauge network in Spain.

*Iberian gauge is 1668mm, standard gauge is 1435mm.

All high speed lines in Spain are built to the European standard gauge (and have been since the early 1990's). Some high speed train services are extended using Iberian gauge lines and therefore they use the Talgo gauge changing technology. The Talgo gauge changing technology allows the trains to change their gauge whilst still moving at low speed (using a section of track designed for the purpose: image). It is the passenger trains that go to Russia that have to have their axles changed (at Brest in Belarus). The Spanish high speed network is the second longest in the world (only China's is longer).

The Spanish national rail company (Renfe) announced a few months ago that they were looking at starting a service between London and Paris, in competition with Eurostar. They stated that they will use 7 existing trains to provide the service. If they had to carry out major refurbishment on the trains before using them on the London-Paris service then they may find that they come under the LOM legislation and would be required to provide 8 bike spaces per train. We can only hope.

There has also been efforts in recent years to start a direct high speed service between London and Bordeaux (bypassing Paris). There have been issues with finding a train company that is willing to invest in such a service (probably made harder due to Covid). Renfe are looking to enter the French high speed market but SNCF and the French government have made life difficult for them, which is why they are looking at London-Paris. Renfe may consider the London-Bordeaux route as an option. Spain is currently building a section of high speed line (called the Basque-Y) that will allow high speed trains to reach the Spain/France border at Irun (due for completion at the end of 2026). There are also plans to build a high speed line south from Bordeaux to the border. Once that is complete (probably not before 2030), it will be possible to get from London to Madrid (and onwards) entirely on high speed lines.

Will

[Vorpal]

The company has only operated high-speed TGV services since its launch in 2013. Under the change, high-speed services will be rebranded Ouigo Grande Vitesse and the new trains will be Ouigo Vitesse Classique.

https://www.railjournal.com/news/ouigo- ... ic-trains/

The policies on bicycle carriage are on the Ouigo website https://www.ouigo.com/faq?question=puis ... rottinette but distinguish between the Grand Vitesse & Vitesse Classique services, depending whether your bike is packed (Option VÉLO SOUS HOUSSE) or rolling on (Option VÉLO NON DÉMONTÉ)

[Will]

This may be of interest to people who like to tour in France.

A new French train service called Ouigo Train Classique or OTC started service on 11/04. The new service is operated by locomotive-hauled trains running on conventional lines at a maximum of 160km/h rather than using TGV trains.

OTC are operating between Paris Austerlitz and Nantes, taking between 3h30 and 4h15, which compares with just under two hours non-stop by TGV.

A second service is operating between Paris Bercy and Lyon Perrache.

The service is operated using Corail coaches from the late 1970s/early 1980s, and bikes can be carried for €10.

"The main work on the Corail stock is the installation of retainers for bikes with space for 16 bikes per train"

I believe the 16 bike spaces are provided as 2 vertical hangers per carriage.

Will

[Jdsk]

Recent thread, with bike policies:
topics merged by moderator

Jonathan

[mjr]

Recent thread, with bike policies:
topics merged by moderator

Annoyingly merged, confusing the old Ouigo High-Speed with the new Ouigo Classic Lines, which had very different policies when I last checked. The main things these trains share is branding and ticketing policy, not rolling stock or on-board facilities.

[Jdsk]

Recent thread, with bike policies:
topics merged by moderator

Annoyingly merged, confusing the old Ouigo High-Speed with the new Ouigo Classic Lines, which had very different policies when I last checked. The main things these trains share is branding and ticketing policy, not rolling stock or on-board facilities.

Ouigo Train Classique was cited and discussed in this thread before today's post.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Option VÉLO:
https://www.ouigo.com/faq?question=opti ... onte-50373
I can't find that page in English, but:

Extras à la carte
In addition to your reserved seat and access to on-board snacks and beverages, you can add any of 3 optional benefits. Travel with:
an extra piece of luggage for an additional €5
a bike, disassembled and packed in a bike bag, for an additional €5
a fully assembled bike for an additional €10
https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer ... -classique

The Man on Ouigo:
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/ouigo.htm
Not yet updated on bikes in the Classique coaches. I'll remind him.

Jonathan