Crossing Paris

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The Independent

Why is it so difficult to change trains in Paris to reach the south of France?

Rail travel to the south of France should be the norm. But a significant impediment to luring airline passengers is that most journeys from the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to the French Mediterranean coast require a change of trains – and stations – in Paris.

Eurostar from London arrives at the Gare du Nord. High-speed TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) for the south leave from the equally magnificent Gare de Lyon.

[stuving]

From The Independent

Why is it so difficult to change trains in Paris to reach the south of France?

Rail travel to the south of France should be the norm. But a significant impediment to luring airline passengers is that most journeys from the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to the French Mediterranean coast require a change of trains – and stations – in Paris.

Eurostar from London arrives at the Gare du Nord. High-speed TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) for the south leave from the equally magnificent Gare de Lyon.

Well, of course. French railways have always been, obviously enough, built for .... Parisians.

[ChrisB]

And as Simon Calder was told, many times, on x/Twitter when he launched this article, the clever people change at Lille for the south of France, rather than Paris.

[grahame]

Well, of course. French railways have always been, obviously enough, built for .... Parisians.

Indeed. the British equivalent is arriving into Waterloo from ... Portsmouth or Southampton or Salisbury ... to continue on via Eurostar.  The same is many huge cities which were there before the railways came and they terminated outside the built up area.    On that basis why is HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) coming in to Old Oak rather that terminating at Amersham with an onward TfL^» (Transport for London - about) service?

[ChrisB]

There is an onwards Tfl service from OOC^▸ (Old Oak Common (depot))

[Worcester_Passenger]

I'd go along with one of the quotes in the article that recommends bus 91 as a way of getting from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon - without the nastiness of the RER.

And indeed, after Gare du Lyon, it continues to Gare Montparnasse. But it looks as if RATP have been thinking about the needs of the station-to-station traffic because it calls at Gare de l'Est on the way.

[infoman]

When I travelled from the U.K. to Marseille in 2016,I changed at Lille,not sure if the service still runs though.

[Mark A]

If time and luggage allows, there are several easy walks to be had. Gare du Nord and Est are practically in each others laps. Saint Lazare isn't quite straightforward to find, and Montparnasse is a bit of a hike, but for the others, from the Gare du Nord, one approach is to head in the direction of the Gare d'Est, go a bit further, pick up the canal and then track that south to the Place de la Bastille.

Gare de Lyon is easy from there, while for Austerlitz, keep on through the Place de la Bastille, pick up the canal as it emerges from underground, and head down to the Seine, across the bridge and there's the station.

Mark

[eightonedee]

Following the posts above,  I do urge anyone thinking of taking the train to the south ( or even the west) of France to investigate changing at Lille. My wife and I have had three trips to Avignon and one each to Bordeaux and Lyons and it has "worked a treat". You simply take a lift or stairs to the upper level and descend to the departure platform when your onward train is due.

We once had to walk from Lille Flandres to Lille Europe for a return connection,  but compared to the hassle of crossing Paris on the Metro that was a small inconvenience.

[Kempis]

We had to transfer from the Gare du Nord to the Gare d'Austerlitz in August, to catch the night train to Briançon. Line 5 of the Métro is direct (there's a bit of a walk at Austerlitz, perhaps because of the building works there), and you can buy Métro tickets from the buffet on the Eurostar.