SNCF: How to find another emergency train for Christmas if yours has been cancelled?

Bad news from SNCF multiplied with users this week. This is the great controversy that has been swirling France for several days: Controllers, with their strike action, caused the cancellation of several trains for the Christmas weekend – even if it depended on one person’s survival – drawing the wrath of many users. essential public service.

In recent days, expressions of desperate passengers have piled up on social networks: all trains for this weekend are clearly full, and most are willing to spend the holidays at home. However, everything is not finished yet and there is a final solution. As Elliot Lepers explained on Twitter, Intercités trains are unaffected by the current social movement.

How to find an emergency train for Christmas?

Let’s start from the beginning. Intercités are trains that travel all over France, passing through small towns that are often poorly serviced by the main TGV lines. In fact, their journey is usually much longer, due to the many stops made during the journey, but also because of their much lower speeds than the TGV and TER. Thus, by TGV it will take a little over 2 hours for a Paris-Bordeaux, while an Intercités will reach its destination in 8 or even 9 hours. In contrast, the trip usually costs much less.

The problem, as Elliot Lepers pointed out, is that when you start a search on the SNCF site it doesn’t offer these Intercity rides. But the latter is positioned as a miracle solution for those whose train has been cancelled. Indeed, the strike movement is largely about TGVs, and many Intercités are still able to book for this weekend. In other words, even if you have to act fast, you have a chance to spend Christmas with your loved ones. Here’s how to do this:

• meeting official reservation site of SNCF
• Medicine your research In the areas provided for this purpose
• Uncheck the box under the date High Speed ​​trains
• click find my route

SNCF will then present you several routes on its site that have been hidden until now. It will certainly be necessary to make some compromises, especially in terms of travel time, potentially overnight travel, and even non-guaranteed seating. Still, these Intercités will ensure that many travelers arrive at their destination on time for the annual family dinner.

As a reminder, SNCF has committed to refund 200% of passengers whose trains are canceled this week. This refund will be available in the form of coupons to be used on the company’s site. In addition, the company warned users whose route was taken. If you have received an e-mail from them that your trip will take place, you can leave with peace of mind.