The third confinement having further reduced train attendance, the SNCF announced on Friday April 9 that it would further reduce the pace on TGVs from Monday April 12. SNCF plans to run four TGVs out of ten on average on the south-eastern, Atlantic and eastern axes, as well as for the Ouigo. On the north axis, the offer remains reduced to three TGVs out of ten.
“This is an average per axis, and the offer is adapted on a case-by-case basis for each destination”, SNCF said in a statement, adding that “The offer may be reinforced on weekends and during school holidays depending on the axes”. Since the start of the year, the railway company has been running three TGVs out of four on average, before reducing its offer on March 29, offering three to six TGVs out of ten depending on the axes. But demand fell further with the announcement of the new sanitary measures and bookings in April and May are down 70% compared to 2019.
For Intercités, the company announces four round trips per day on weekdays to Paris-Clermont, Paris-Limoges-Toulouse, Bordeaux-Toulouse-Marseille, and one to Nantes-Bordeaux, Nantes-Lyon, Toulouse-Hendaye and Clermont-Béziers .
Refundable tickets free of charge
As for night trains, the service from the South-West to Toulouse remains suspended, the Paris-Briançon is still provided on weekdays (via Modane and a bus connection). The relaunch of Paris-Nice, scheduled for April 16, has been postponed to a later date.
Regionally, the level of TER supply depends on local decisions. It is currently reduced to 80% of normal on average.
As for international connections, Eurostar keeps a single return trip between Paris and London per day, as well as an Amsterdam-Brussels-Lille-London. The SNCF plans four return trips per day Paris-Brussels for Thalys (including one Paris-Amsterdam and one Paris-Dortmund), eight return trips to Germany, five to Switzerland, two to Italy and two to Italy. ‘Spain.
To travel, travelers must have their transport ticket and their exceptional travel certificate. All main line tickets – TGV Inoui, Ouigo and Intercités, connecting TER – are exchangeable and refundable free of charge until the last moment until April 30. In addition, for subscribers “My annual package” and “TGV max”, there will be no levy in April, noted the SNCF.