“We are retired. By car we no longer take the highways, but the national ones so as not to pay tolls. This so-called classic train, slower but much cheaper, is in the same vein. It suits us”say Jean-Claude and Marie Claude, crossed on Tuesday 12 April on the platform of Nantes station.
With its candy pink color, its straight-nosed electric locomotive straight from the 70s and 80s, the Ouigo classic train Paris-Nantes attracts attention. This is the new SNCF offer, through a subsidiary Oslo. Travel time? Between 3:30 and 16:15 from Nantes to Paris via Angers, Le Mans, Chartres, Versailles, Juvisy, etc. or via Saumur, Tours, Orleans, Blois, etc. Even if the TGV is there between 2 and 2:20 hours, it is still faster than the car.
Video. New Ouigo line: the Nantes-Paris journey for less than €30
Coralie Roland and their three children have just arrived. They come to Nantes for the holidays. “For five we paid €47, or €94 each way. †
The price is currently between 10 and 19 €. And only €5 for children under 12 years old. Strange when you know that on a TGV the ticket can go up to 88 € one way, if you buy it at the last minute.
Another argument: the diversity of stations served. “I live in Billancourt. I’m going to Versailles,’ smiled Mary. You don’t have to go through Paris.
Also read: At the heart of the SNCF . night train clinic
“We are very well there”
“These renovated old Corail trains are the most comfortable available today. We are very well there. † Mouad Khatim, 26, knows. Passionate about trains, he traverses all of France by rail when not at work.
William, who goes to Paris once a week, tries. † The comfort, nothing to say, the transport time worries me a bit. Luckily I’m on a train with a power outlet, I can work on my computer. † There is no WiFi, but the 4G works fine on the road.
And the staff, what does it say about this train? Railroad workers shudder. On Monday they demonstrated at the call of Sud Rail and the CFDT in Paris. “We are asking more and more of the staff through our subsidiary Oslo. A single example, the controller also sells water, sandwiches, knowing there is no bar cart on board. †
Ouigo classic train. Tickets only on the internet. Paris-Nantes. Two daily return flights. Departures from Nantes at 12:45 PM and 7:00 PM. Arrive in Paris Bercy and Paris Austerlitz respectively and not in Montparnasse.
