The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) is the national railway company. There are 34 260 km of railway lines in France, with Corail (express or omnibus) trains and the TGV high speed train. The TGV holds the world rail speed record, 515 km/h.

Paris has six big stations, each serving a specific region:

• Gare Saint - Lazare : Normandy and Paris West
  Metro : "Saint Lazare" line 3, 12 & 13.

• Gare Montparnasse :Brittany, Atlantic Coast and TGV trains to south-west France. (The whole of the west of France (Brittany) and the south-west by TGV. This makes Nantes 2h from Paris, Bordeaux 3h, Toulouse 2h)
  Metro : "Montparnasse-Bienvenüe" line 4, 12 & 13

• Gare du Nord : North of France, Benelux. Great Britain by Eurostar.
  Metro : "Gare du Nord" line 4 & 5 RER : line B & D

• Gare de l'Est: East of France and Germany (East of France (Strasbourg, Nancy, Reims) and Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria)
  Metro : "Gare de l'Est" line 4, 5 & 7.

• Gare de Lyon : South and south-east France and Europe (The whole of the south-east of France (Rhône valley, Provence, Riviera - Côte d'Azur and Switzerland, Italy and Greece). The TGV makes Lyon 2h from Paris, Montpellier and Marseille 4h)
  Metro : "Gare de Lyon" line 1. RER : line A & D

• Gare d'Austerlitz : Loire Valley and south-west France, Spain and Portugal (Loire Valley and south-west France (Bordeaux, the Pyrenees) and Spain and Portugal)
  Metro : "Gare d'Austerlitz" line 5 & 10 .
  RER : line C

TGV

The TGV Thalys links Belgium and the Netherlands daily with Paris.
Tel. 08 36 35 35 36

The TGV Eurostar joins London, Waterloo Station, with Paris, Gare du Nord, in 3h (1 or 2 departures every hour.)
Tel. 08 36 35 35 39

Tickets and information

Train Information SNCF:
Tel : 08 36 35 35 35
Internet : www.sncf.fr

Ticket reservations:

In stations, SNCF shops and authorized travel agencies and in the Espace du Tourisme Ile-de-France in the Louvre Carrousel.

By telephone

Main lines : tel. 08 36 35 35 35 (2.23 F / min.)
Timetable daily 7h-22h

Ile-de-France : tel. 01 53 90 20 20
RER Ile-de-France : tel. 01 53 90 10 10
Daily from 06h to 22h

Eurostar : tel. 08 36 35 35 39 (2.23F/min.)
Travellers with reduced mobility: 0 800 15 47 53 (free no.)

By Minitel

36 15 SNCF

Reservation compulsory for the TGV (price variable depending on the date and time)

Collection of tickets :

Collection of telephone reservations in the stations (at the ticket office or from the ticket vending machines), in the SNCF shops and authorized travel agencies. Possibility of having your tickets sent to you free on paying for your telephone reservation by credit card.

Car hire in the stations

In 195 stations of France, SNCF and Avis propose a car hire service. The car reservation can be made at the same time as buying the train ticket. A wide choice of hire formulas at preferential rates is proposed.
Leaflets on «Train+Location de voiture» or «Train=Hôtel» formulae available in the stations on request.
SNCF or Avis Tel. 01 46 10 60 60 (from Paris) or 0 800 325 325 (free from the provinces).