61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
I didn't actually book the couchette (just a seat), though it was an option via the Loco2 app/website so should be bookable that way. Having experienced a night in the seated cars on the way back I'd suggest getting a couchette, just to avoid the chatter of various groups who decide to stay up most of the night playing cards! There was also, disappointingly, no water in the tanks for the two toilets in my seated car. This meant that ablutions could only be performed after tip-toeing through to the neighbouring sleeping car (prior to Toulouse) or through the adjacent seated car from the Toulouse portion.
Gare d'Austerlitz is also a bit chaotic at the moment, as it is undergoing a protracted refurbishment. All in all though it's a decent experience despite the pitfalls. Though if running right through to Latour-Carol make sure you bring extra sandwiches for your breakfast, as there's nowhere to buy food other than chocolate bars there if the Bistro nearby is closed (which it was in both directions when I passed through). By the time I reached Barcelona I'd have even eaten a pot noodle if I'd been offered one!
The run down the Spanish side is breathtaking though. I can only imagine that the only reasons it doesn't crop up in "Top 20 European Railway Journeys" type lists are that (a) there's not much at the top of the hills other than views (imagine the WHL sleeper terminating at Corrour!), and (b) RENFE seem to want to keep it a secret, as it won't show up on their (or the regional Rodalies de Catalunya) journey planners.
The use of suburban EMU stock might not help, but they seem to prioritise the units with more seat padding for those services at least, and the window alignment would impress many contributors to this forum. My return journey was formed of the only graffiti-free units I saw in all the time I was there, though they do appear to clear the windows as quickly as possible.
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