FRANCE: SNCF’s low-cost subsidiary Ouigo is to launch three additional routes from spring 2022, using refurbished loco-hauled trains to augment its high-density TGV trainsets.
To be branded as Ouigo Vitesse Classique, the low-cost trains are primarily intended to compete against long-distance coach services, with fares ranging from €10 to €30 each way. They are also being seen as an attempt by the state-owned operator to fend off potential competition from open access operators such as Flixtrain or Railcoop.
Services will be worked by Corail coaches displaced from former TET inter-city services, refurbished and decked out in a new pink livery. The trains are intended to replace the ‘100% Eco Intercités’ services operated on various routes between 2010 and 2020. Trolley catering is to be provided, offering what SNCF described as ‘a snacking service’.
‘A new page opens for Ouigo’, said SNCF Voyageurs President Christophe Fanichet announcing the new services on September 23. ‘We are betting on a new offer to make people prefer the train to the coach and attract new passengers.’ Explaining that the service was ‘an experiment’, he anticipated that it would be profitable within two years.
Ouigo Vitesse Classique is to be operated by a new wholly-owned subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs, called Oslo, which will employ around 80 people. As well as making more intensive use of the rolling stock, more flexible staffing patterns are envisaged.
Slower but cheaper
Initially serving 14 stations on shorter-distance routes from the Ile de France region, Ouigo Vitesse Classique trains will operate over conventional main lines, thus benefiting from lower access charges than those applying to the high speed lines.
To the southeast, there will be two trains each way per day between Paris Bercy and Lyon Perrache, calling at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Melun, Dijon Ville, Chalon-sur-Saône and Mâcon Ville. End to end journey time will be around 5 h, compared with 2 h 20 min for the fastest TGV services.
To the southwest of the capital, there will be three trains each way per day between Paris Austerlitz and Nantes via two routes. ‘Northern branch’ services will call at Juvisy, Massy-Palaiseau, Versailles Chantiers, Chartres, Le Mans and Angers Saint-Laud. The southern service will be routed via Juvisy, Les Aubrais (for Orléans), Blois-Chambord, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps (for Tours), Saumur and Angers Saint-Laud. Journey time will be around 4 h, against 2 h by TGV Atlantique.
‘My leitmotiv: give people the choice of green mobility’, added SNCF Voyageurs CEO Alain Krakovitch, explaining that Ouigo Vitesse Classique would offer ‘slow train journeys’ at ‘classic speeds and unbeatable prices’, with tickets sold online ‘until the last minute’. He anticipated that around 65% of tickets would be sold for less than €20.
Meanwhile, Ouigo will also be expanding its high speed offer, according to Director-General Stephane Rapebach. Services to Brest, La Rochelle and Perpignan will be added in 2023, and while the low-cost operator expects to introduce new trains with greater capacity from 2025.
