Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais SNCF (France) Reviews

Someone once told me that, no matter how overrated many French products and things can sometimes be.....(no offense to any of the French happening to read this right now =), they do have amazing Transportation systems. Whomever told me this, I can't remember anymore. I would love to tell that guy/girl though that.....he/she is .......deluded. ...  Read the complete review

SNCF is most famous for being the network that developed and deployed the TGV - the fastest traditionally railed passenger train anywhere in the world. The TGV, and its offspring Thalys (a TGV between France and the Low Countries) and Eurostar (between London and Paris and London and Brussels) are part of a wider European highspeed network that is ...  Read the complete review

No cheap tickets- if you try to book the cheapest tickets, there's a "technical problem" that goes away if you switch to the more expensive ones. The agents tell you that these tickets must be ordered online. It seems as though about 100 euro is the cut off point. So, if you're planning on traveling first class, this is the ...  Read the complete review

Most people will agree that privatisation is one of the major factors behind Britain's poor service. Now, in France, private companies have not been in charge of rail transport since 1938, and you'll really be able to see why the French want things to stay this way, if you ever set foot in an SNCF station. SNCF stands for Société ...  Read the complete review

During my time in France, I have many times booked online to travel to other parts of France by train. Living in a rural area, it was interesting that SNCF (which actually stands for National Society of Iron Roads) even serve smaller communities in France, and what they do is have a network of coaches that link small towns like the one in which I ...  Read the complete review

Snail-paced this is not! The British railways remain the subject of cynical moaning, a deflating energy-sapping experience for many commuters throughout the country. I don't think the British railways are as bad as the negative press would have you believe. I use the train maybe once per month, and never have a problem. I ...  Read the complete review

I was using the TGV as a quick method of getting Marseille to Lille in just a few hours, without having to fly. From Lille I would change to Eurostar (see my op 'Why We're Going Off Eurostar') and from London I would change to GNER to Newcastle (see my forthcoming op) The options of getting to the south of France without driving are; ...  Read the complete review

SNCF really do show railways around the world the benchmark they have to aim for. I have never had a problem with SNCF, usually on time (except for one journey). I usually travel Paris-Brittany and the service is always on time, the trains clean and staff helpful and PROUD to work for the company. I was let down by rail Europe ...  Read the complete review

I was surprised to read that all peaople was satisfact of SNCF... I know advantages of the nationalisation, more security, good service (not best), we can go everywhere, the TGV are very comfortable (in 1th class, the 2th is too little), the price is vrey good ( i have a card of reduction for less 25 years, and i can have 50 % of reduction)... ...  Read the complete review

SNCF, La Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (‘National Society of the Railways’ for non-French speakers), is the name given for the train network in France. Unlike the ridiculous system in Britain, SNCF is nationalised, so provides rail services for the entire country. Whether it is the nationalisation, or just the way in ...  Read the complete review

SNCF French railways comprise of a network of TGV high speed services, mainline and also TER local trains and the metro systems in the cities. SNCF are also co-operators of international services like Eurostar and Thalys. For this opinion I thought I'd concentrate on the 'Grande Lignes' mainline services as that's how ...  Read the complete review

I have worked and lived both Paris and Grenoble in France. This means when I am in one place, the chances are I want to visit people in the other. Well, I was working in Paris and made a last-minute decision to go to Grenoble for the weekend so I thought be clever and plan ahead Thursday I went to the travel agent to book a ticket for the TGV. ...  Read the complete review

I have used the TGV, and on each occasion it has been brilliant, it leaves british rail light years behind. You can buy your tickets up until seconds before the train departs either at the ticket office or even better if your french isnt great, at an automatic ticket machine,you just type in where you want to go etc, and pay by credit card.. ...  Read the complete review