After breaking attendance records in 2022, the SNCF intends to do even better this summer. At least it seems to be on the right track: the company is currently seeing a 20% increase in bookings compared to last summer. Proof of the infatuation of the French for the train… even if many of them risk being left behind. Because when they are not sold out, the tickets available for popular destinations such as the Atlantic or Mediterranean coast are displayed at exorbitant prices.
Enough to discourage even the most inclined to favor the train. “Over the years, it has become a luxury means of transport, annoys Jean, a 37-year-old computer engineering executive. I love the train, I agree to pay the price, but not when it goes beyond understanding. Even with the capped prices of the Avantage card, even by arranging for us to leave in the middle of the week rather than on Friday, the train systematically appears to be more expensive than the car and the plane. So this summer, we will take the car, ”continues this Ile-de-France resident.
The car is also the mode of transport that Vincent will favor to go with his family to Auvergne and Périgord. “Every summer, I travel by train, but the summer of 2023 will be an exception for practical reasons”, explains this 39-year-old Ile-de-France resident, director in the audiovisual sector. “Usually, I get up at 6 a.m. on the day sales open to buy my tickets for the summer. You can find good prices, you just have to anticipate, even if at this time you have to expect prices that are always higher than normal.”
For his part, Grégory, 22, absolutely wants to travel by train. After a month of July devoted to a seasonal job, the student would like to spend two weeks in the Alps in August thanks to his subscription to Max Jeune which he recently took out. This offer (formerly TGVmax) allows people under 27 to travel as much as they want for €79 per month. But the places allocated being limited, he fears not being able to use his subscription in August. “If I struggle to find places, I will go by carpooling or by coach, but it would bother me to pay a subscription in the wind”, testifies the student from Rennes. Last year he expressed to Le Figaro his regret at seeing the Pass Jeune TER de France disappear. For €29 per month, this ticket allowed unlimited use of all regional trains in July and August.
“If you want low prices, you need the Avantage card, you have to look at the Ouigo and you have to anticipate”, insisted Alain Krakovitch, boss of the TGV and Intercités, during a press conference on June 20. The average anticipation to buy a ticket is between 20 and 25 days, which according to him is insufficient to get cheap tickets. The Avantage card caps the price of journeys at €39, 59 or €79 (depending on their distance), provided that a return trip includes a weekend night. On Ouigos, prices are now capped at €99 and children pay a fixed price of €5 or €8 on all journeys and all year round.
“Prices are much lower for less popular destinations or dates,” he added. A good excuse to go offbeat, especially in September or to favor places far from the crowds. That’s what Camille is going to do, like every summer. “The coast in the middle of August, that absolutely does not make me dream”, launches this framework in advertising. Like every summer, she will visit her family in the Vosges and then continue, still by train, with a week in the mountains of Switzerland and Austria.
If the TGV is too expensive, there are more affordable rail alternatives. Regional trains (TER) are certainly slower but often more economical than the TGV, thanks to their fixed pricing even at the last minute. Tickets at 1 € in Occitania, unlimited travel for a few euros a day, free for children… Most regions also offer advantageous offers to allow groups and families to visit their territory at a low price. The Spanish company Renfe, which will launch its lines in July (Lyon-Barcelona and Marseille-Madrid), is offering tickets until July 7 from €9 for a trip in France and from €19 between France and Spain.
Another alternative: carpooling. BlaBlaCar expects 3 million carpoolers in July and August, an increase of 20% compared to the same period in 2022. Its coach service, BlaBlaCar Bus, is launching 42 connections in Europe, including ten in France (Marseille- Rome, Paris-Lisbon, Lyon-Madrid…). This expansion will accommodate more than one million passengers this summer. Its competitor Flixbus, meanwhile, is strengthening its service to the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast this summer, with in particular the launch of a seasonal line from Paris to Sainte-Maxime. The company will run 350 coaches daily in France and ensures that the average price for a trip to France is €18. A cheap alternative for those disappointed by the train.
