Gare Montparnasse - ticket query & tips please!

[chris-s]

So, I've got my tickets from the Rail Europe office for my train from Montparnasse to Morlaix, question, I've seen mention about needing to 'validate' the tickets in the station before boarding, perhaps using some automated kiosk or something? Can anyone throw any light on this?

Also, since I've paid for the bike to go on the TGV as well, is the bike storage area generally at one end or the other or is it signed? Just don't want to get in a panic running up and down the platform trying to find the right carriage!

Any other tips on getting thru the station with a bike greatly appreciated!

Chris

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Hi,

You have to punch your tickets yourself before entering a French train. You'll see little machines that you put your ticket in - the right way round. When you hear a punch you'll know it's OK. The newer machines look like this:

The older ones look like this:

 

[andym]

And if you should forget, go looking for the conductor and ask him/her to validate your ticket - don't wait for them to find you.

But it's also worth reading the ticket. It may be that if your ticket is only valid for a specific train that you don't need to stamp it - the ticket should tell you, but if in doubt stamp it. (but make sure you only stamp the outward ticket).

As far as the bike compartment is concerned, Paris Montparnasse is the starting station so, provided you get there with a bit of time you'll have plenty of time to find the bike compartment.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I've just started a thread on general tips for cycling in France. You may find some useful information on it. You'll find it here

 

[chris-s]

I've just started a thread on general tips for cycling in France. You may find some useful information on it. You'll find it here

Thanks, thats a nice little write up, tho I'm now confused over whether the bike really needs to be broken down and bagged to go on the TGV, I'm sure when I spoke to Rail Europe I was able to book a specific cycle space which is duly noted on my tickets.

Chris

 

[andym]

Thanks, thats a nice little write up, tho I'm now confused over whether the bike really needs to be broken down and bagged to go on the TGV, I'm sure when I spoke to Rail Europe I was able to book a specific cycle space which is duly noted on my tickets.

Chris

Chris

On the services from Montparnasse most (all?) the trains have spaces for bikes. Unfortunately it's a different story on the lines going out of the Gare du Lyon.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Yes, I can't really talk about Marparnasse too much as I'm less familiar with the trains that leave from there. The TGVs on this route are the old-generation ones, and so they may not be the same as those leaving for Lyon and Marseille. It's actually more complicated than I suggested on my tips page - the exact rules depend on your destination. However, the general rule is that on TGVs you need to put bikes in a bag. You say that you found information from Rail-Europe. I would be careful to only get your information from SNCF itself as the rules are very complicated and change frequently. You'll find up-to-date information here. Unfortunately, it's in French, but if you use Google Chrome you should get a sufficiently good translation to make it understandable if you don't speak French.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Here's a translation of the most important part of that page:


Voyages à bord de TGV et d'Artésia (voyages vers l'italie)
Démonté et transporté dans une housse spécifique, votre vélo est considéré comme un bagage à main.
Non démonté, entreposez-le dans l'espace vélo de certains trains Grandes Lignes ou dans le fourgon à bagages mis à votre disposition: espace spécialement aménagé sur certains TGV pouvant accueillir 4 vélos. Le tarif de la réservation est de 10 €.


Travelling on the TGV or Artésia (journeys to Italy)
Your bicycle is classed as hand baggage if it is taken apart (by this I think they mean the wheels should be removed) and packed in a bicycle bag. In certain main-line trains, you can put your bicycle un-dismantled in the space reserved for bicycles or in the baggage wagon which is at your disposal - on certain TGVs this area can stock up to 4 bicycles. The reservation fee is €10.

Hope that makes things clearer!

 

[chris-s]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going Paris to Morlaix, so I'll check to see what that link has to say.

Chris

 

[chris-s]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going Paris to Morlaix, the link doesn't show anything for that route, hopefully that's a good thing!

Chris

 

[andym]

You can confirm whether a train has cycle carriage facilities: go to the sncf site (Rail-europe.co.uk) and do a timetable search when the list of trains comes up click on the show fares button. If there's a bike compartment you should see a little bike pictogram. Or alternatively use the DeutscheBahn website (bahn.co.uk) which has an option to search for trains with bike carriage facilities.

 

[betty swollocks]

Have not long returned from a cycling holiday in France. This involved several railway trips where I took my bike.
In all cases and trips (inc TGV) the railway car was easily found because it had a large logo of a bike on the outside. On the inside, there were hooks in the ceiling to hook up your front wheel and a slot in the wall from the rear wheel.
Invariably, the railway staff could not have been more helpful.

This was my experience.

 

[andym]

I tried to check what I had posted - what a nightmare. The bahn website only lists the regional services going out of St Nazare. So I tried the Rail Europe UK site which was no help. I eventually managed to use the www. Tgv-europe.com site (but I had to stop it redirecting me to the Rail Europe UK site - you have to choose the pay in euros option). Anyway I checked Paris-Morlaix trains for the 19 July - of the half dozen trains I checked all had bike carriage facilities. If you want to check this you have to click on the little 'détails' tab for each train and hopefully the listing shows a little bike pictogram.

Jeez what a pain - it never used to be this hard. Hopefully there are just temporary systems issues: it would be a real blow if you could no longer rely on the results from bahn.co.uk.

Jimmy - if you're going to give information about travelling by train in France you really need to ensure that it is detailed and specific - otherwise you simply risk adding to people's confusion and causing unnecessary worry.

 

[chris-s]

THANKS!

I think that pretty much covers that part of the trip. It's little details like this which are invaluable when planning a trip. Hopefully in the future someone else will find it useful too.

Chris

 

[Jimmy Doug]

andym - if I could give detailed and specific information about using trains in France, believe me I would. I answered this post in the hope I could help. I live here in France and speak the language - so I'm even prepared to phone up and ask. As I said earlier on in this thread, the only people you can rely on to find information about SNCF's rules and policies is the SNCF itself. They change their rules, tarifs, offers, and so on so often that only people who work for the SNCF know for sure. This is a prime example. Whenever I've enquired about taking my bike on a TGV (and the last time was yesterday - but for a different route), I've been told that I need to put the bike in a bike bag. This is also the information that the Lonely Planet Guide to cycling in France gives. Now, thanks to this thread, I've learned that it's possible to put a complet bike on the TGV Atlantique - that's good news (but how long beofre they change this policy??). I'll modify my Cycling in France Tips thread in the light of all this. Sorry if have caused stress - that was far from my intention.