Operator: SNCF/Deutsche Bahn (DB)
Headcode: TGV9575
Route: PGE-STR
Class: 1st Class
Seat: C13, S352
Date: Saturday 3rd January 2026
Having started my Meander to Moldova with a Eurostar service southward from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord (read about that here), it was time to begin heading east. The next leg of my trip, a 3 hour 20-minute TGV journey, would take me from the French capital to Stuttgart, my first overnight stop where I’d spend around 27 hours before continuing onwards towards Moldova. And so, having made the easy 5-minute walk from Gare du Nord to Gare de L’Est, I arrived at the latter around 35 minutes before my train was due to depart.
Whilst the platform was only announced 15 minutes before departure, I had been able to work out in advance which one would be mine as it was the only one with the correct type of train based on the info provided by the SNCF app. It turned out that the TGV EuroDuplex 3UA in platform 27 was indeed my train and so when the platform was announced I just had the walk to the far end, rather than the length of the concourse and the length of the platform, meaning I was one of the first onboard. My coach 13 was third from the front in the front unit and so I had 13 coaches, 3 power cars and what I’ve described in my notes as 2 ‘middle bits’ to walk past before reaching my coach. SNCF had clearly got advice on coach numbering from CrossCountry, as coaches 11-18 were leading, with coaches 8-1 in the rear, in that order.
The entire train would run to Strasbourg (the first stop) where the rear portion would terminate, and the front portion would continue via Karlsruhe to Stuttgart. This service is jointly operated by both SNCF and DB and so is listed as both a TGV and an ICE service, with tickets available through both operators. My seat for the journey was seat 352 on the upper deck in 1st class, which came with a European power socket, large seat back table and stat back storage along with the usual reading light and coat hook. 1st class was laid out in the usual 1-2 formation with a mix of ‘airline style’ and table seating, with mine being an ‘airline style’ seat on the single side of the aisle.
Departing Gare de L’Est ontime at 1343, it was initially quite slow going as we wound out way out of the station and into the Paris suburbs until we passed Rosa Parks RER station when we started to get some speed up. On our way out of Paris we passed SNCF depots for both TGVs and regional trains either side of the tracks at Pantin, along with a tram depot and rail freight yard at Noisy-le-Sec. At Varies-sur-Mar we joined the LGV Est, one of France’s newest standalone high-speed lines which opened in stages between 2007 and 2016 and which halved travel times between Strasbourg and the French capital. Trains can reach speeds of 320km/h (200mph) on the LGV Est and whilst I didn’t see us quite reach that, we certainly hit 315km/h whilst I was looking at the tracker on the WiFi landing page.
Our journey between Paris and Strasbourg was due to take around an hour and 45 minutes, with us passing non-stop through the three intermediate stations on the LGV line, these being Champagne-Ardenne on the outskirts of Rennes, Meuse and Lorraine. Having had a relatively tight connection between the Eurostar and TGV in Paris, I hadn’t had time to find somewhere for lunch and so I decided to check out ‘Le Bar’ in coach 14, conveniently a very short walk from my seat. I ended up going for the ‘counter menu’ which got me a quiche, yoghurt and coke for €13.30 (£11.62) and I surprised myself by managing to order in [bad] French and getting what I was hoping for. ‘Le Bar’ also has an area with stand-up tables for eating at, so I enjoyed my light lunch there for a change of scenery before returning to my seat.
Whilst the UK and northern France had been experiencing a cold snap with frost on the ground as I’d passed through earlier in the day, it was clearly nothing compared to eastern France as we were soon passing through a very white landscape covered in snow. This is a bit of France that I have never been to or passed through, and I’ve got to say it was a beautiful view from the window with highlights including the hill-top village of Vignuelles-lès-Hattonchâtel and the village of Bettborn sitting alongside the railway. The LGV Est came to an end to the north of Strasbourg at Vendenheim and from here we rejoined the regular rail network to head into the city.
Unfortunately, it was quite slow going from here into Strasbourg with us crawling alongside some large railway yards with lots of freight and a few passenger units parked up. We pulled into Gare de Strasbourg-Ville at 1555 around 25 minutes late and, after the rear unit was detached, we departed the city again at 1602. From Strasbourg we had a 10-minute run crossing the Rhine and the French/German before making a planned but unscheduled stop at Kehl, the first station in Germany. I’d had an email the day before from SNCF (along with a note on the app) that German police were undertaking document checks at Kehl and to expect a 15-minute delay here.
I was a bit surprised by this given both France and Germany are part of the Schengen area, although I believe countries still have the right to implement additional checks if they feel necessary. However, the checks were hassle free with police officers moving through the carriages and having a quick look at everyone’s documents, before we were able to continue on towards the next scheduled station of Karlsruhe. Having left Paris on time, we had unfortunately gathered up quite a delay by the time we reached Karlsruhe and pulled into the station at 1703, 38 minutes late, with darkness having now fallen. Unfortunately, with the placement of the lights on the upper deck of TGV EuroDuplexes being right above the windows, it was impossible for me to see anything as we continued our journey and so the remainder of the journey was spent doom scrolling on my phone.
As we reached the town of Vaihingen, about halfway between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart we unfortunately came to a stand once again. After a bit of a wait the guard advised that there was an issue with the tunnel ahead of us and so we would be being diverted around it but would incur another 20 minute delay as a result. As such, rather than arriving into Stuttgart by the direct route via Nordbahnhof (and the problematic tunnel) we headed up to Ellental before following one of the local S-bahn routes into the city. Finally, after a four and half hour journey from Pari, we pulled into Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof’s platform 5 at 1814, a whopping 70 minutes late and alighted straight into the giant building site that is Stuttgart’s main station.
Other than the various delays, this journey onboard one of SNCF’s TGV EuroDuplexes was a pleasant way to travel between Paris and Stuttgart. The seats in 1st class were spacious and comfortable and ‘Le Bar’ was great both for the choice of food offered but also for the space it provided to eat and socialise. Had it not been for the delay, the journey would have taken around 3 hours and 20 minutes, much quicker than making your way out to Charles-De-Gaulle airport, getting through security, flying to Stuttgart and then making your way into the city from there. Even with the delay it was probably comparable given both airports are around half an hour from the cities they serve. All in all travelling on a TGV is a great way to get between Paris and some of western Europe’s major cities, so if you have it as an option for your journey, choose it.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 4*
Service 5*
Punctuality 0*
Overall Rating 13/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 