Operator: SNCF
Headcode: TGV8361
Route: PAR-LRH
Class: 2nd
Seat: C19 S24
Date: Saturday 5th August 2023
Having enjoyed just over 24 hours exploring the French capital, it was time to continue our journey to the coast and so we headed to Gare Montparnasse, Paris’ gateway to the Atlantic coast and South-West of France. We were going to be travelling onboard an SNCF TGV in 2nd class as we made the journey from Paris to the port town of La Rochelle.
As we had stayed the night at the Novotel Paris Gare Montparnasse TGV, our closest access to the station was into Hall 2, which is underground but above the platforms about halfway down. Whilst slightly harder to find and access, Hall 2 is much quieter than the main hall so great if you just want to wait for your train in peace and don’t need all the shops associated with the main concourse in Hall 1.
Arriving at the station around 50-minutes before departure we had time to enjoy lunch in the lone café in Hall 2 before our platform was announced around 30-minutes ahead of departure. Unfortunately the only phrase that comes to mind when I think of boarding this train is “what a sh*t show!”, with the problems starting as we tried to head down to the platform from Hall 2. After struggling to get through the tickets gates with them trying to access Apple pay instead of the QR code, we then found there was no down escalator to the platforms.
To make matters worse the lift to platforms 4 and 5 was also out of use and so I struggled carrying our suitcases down what was a rather narrow staircase. Making our way to the far end of platform 4 to board coach 19 of 20, boarding didn’t get any easier as France also experiences the shortage of space for luggage onboard their trains.
Even finding our seats was a struggle as each seat seemed to have two different numbers. I think these were supposed to illuminate depending upon which direction the train was heading (not that that should make any difference to the seat numbers), however with most of the little lights not working, it took a couple of trips up and down the aisle to find our seats.
Given we had started heading down from Hall 2 around 25 minutes before departure, it wasn’t long after we had finally settled into our seats before we were pulling out of the station at 1338, one minute late. With the high-speed line running mostly in tunnels until we were beyond Massy, there wasn’t much to see out of the window and so we both buried our heads in our phones to try and unwind after the stress of boarding.
The seats themselves were pretty comfortable, in a 2-2 configuration with a mix of ‘airline style’ or groups of 4 around tables. We were in some ‘airline style’ seats and so had folding seat back tables along with separate cup holders. Each seat also had an individual reading light and there was a European plug socket for each pair of seats. There was also free WiFi onboard, although this was patchy especially through the numerous tunnels at the start of the journey.
The first half of our journey was on the Ligne à Grande Vitesse (LGV) Sud-Ouest, one of France’s recently constructed high-speed lines which opened in 2017. This meant we were reaching speeds of up to 185mph and within an hour were about half-way between Tours and Poitiers and making great time. Unfortunately, we left the LGV at Poitiers and joined one of the ‘classic’ lines towards the coast, travelling at much slower speeds.
In fact our service was non-stop until we reached this ‘classic’ line having used the avoiding lines at both Tours and Poitiers. However, before we reached La Rochelle and the coast we had three other stops to make at Saint-Maixent-L’École, Niort and Surgères. As we made our way between these stops the train slowed to what felt like a crawl, however I’ve got to commend SNCF for having direct TGV services between Paris and these smaller towns.
Each TGV has an onboard café bar, however having had lunch at Montparnasse we decided not to get anything on this journey. The selection though is pretty impressive with a choice of hot food or sandwiches along with the usual mix of drinks and snacks. I long for a British train operator to provide a decent meal for purchase in standard class, especially the ‘big three’ inter-city operators of Avanti, GWR and LNER.
As we approached La Rochelle, we passed the Alstom works at Aytré and I was able to catch a glimpse of one of the new ‘TGV M’ units outside the factory. These new trains will be the 4th generation of TGV and will be similar to the TGV Duplex units but will be more efficient and cheaper to run, with the first units expecting to enter service in 2024.
After a journey of 2 hours and 47 minutes we arrived into La Rochelle at 1625, 5 minutes late, having been held at a junction just outside for a passing freight train. La Rochelle has a large commercial port outside of the city centre with a large rail connection and so I assume the freight train had started its journey there and was heading inland with its cargo.
This was my first journey onboard a TGV and, other than the boarding, it was generally ok. The seats were comfortable, there was a wide range of refreshments if we had wanted them and all the ‘mod-cons’ such as WiFi and plugs were provided. The journey itself was relaxing and enjoyable, it was just a shame it started with 20 minutes of chaos!
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 3*
Service 3*
Punctuality 4*
Overall Rating 16/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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