what's SNCF Ouigo like

[Peter Kelford]

Hi all - welcome views and or pointers to images / info.

I know Ouigo is a no frills type TGV with no 1st class and no catering, but what's it like

eg: do they usually run at full TGV speed on routes, or make more stops?
Are they smart inside (or is it a home for tired interiors from old sets)?
Is the seat layout good (or is it a product that packs more seats in and thus cramped)
Are any of them double deckers?

any views on pros and cons welcome (assume obv pro is price and thus I can check that out on booking sites) but other things to consider are welcome.

Am planning a trip to Bordeaux and I think the Timetable suggests there are Ouigo trains on that route so am considering it as an option.

Thanks in advance.

A Ouigo train is a high-density budget seating service. Blue seats in 2-2 arrangement throughout with no bar. The interior is new, all of them are double-deckers. They do run at full speed on the HS lines but they don't often start from the major HS stations like Lyon PD, Paris-Lyon etc.

 

[Peter Kelford]

If you don't care to take the slower regular train, there is also another category of budget trains: Intercités 100% Éco.
It's generally within the same price range as Ouigo trains but without all the limitations around luggage and such, however like with Ouigo, you need to book tickets in advance online.
These are old style trains with a locomotive pulling coaches, the old regular "Corail" coaches have better seats that the Ouigo trains. On most lines these trains travel with a speed between 160 and 200kph, so not that slow.
The only downside is that's not always easy to find these trains in the SNCF trip planner to buy tickets.

https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/travel-on-a-budget/intercites-eco

I remember taking it once from Paris Est to Strasbourg but according to the SNCF website it seems like it doesn't exist anymore.

100% Éco = 100% Economic (Or eco-friendly) in English. Its goal is to get maximum utilisation out of Corail coaches that aren't needed during the day (i.e. for sleeper trains) or to get paid for repositioning services (a train in Dijon needing to return to Paris, for example).

 

[Bletchleyite]

A Ouigo train is a high-density budget seating service. Blue seats in 2-2 arrangement throughout with no bar. The interior is new, all of them are double-deckers. They do run at full speed on the HS lines but they don't often start from the major HS stations like Lyon PD, Paris-Lyon etc.

Some in 3+1 in the former First Class bit I believe, which is a layout I think should be tried in the UK, it might even be better than 2+2 as it allows 3 across before it feels crowded rather than 2, and it is good for groups (the 3+2 bays of 6 on 350/2s are very popular with small groups). Though in this case it's just because the former 1st coaches have offset sunken aisles.

The actual seats are the same as the ones used on most Southern Electrostars, and in alleged First Class on the LNR 350s. Decent enough though the armrests are quite high.

Thoroughly nasty colour scheme, though. Very similar to the DB open coach LHCS in the early 2000s, though that was better than the turd-brown and puke-green interior that preceded it.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Is inoui operating right now, limited service and having to block off seats to maintain social distancing? I can see only the window seats being used.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

inOui is a silly name (because it sounds like "ennui" which means "boredom") for a regular TGV. The French love giving products silly names, though.

Hopefully they'll go the same way as Air France's Joon and HOP!

 

[CC 72100]

Is inoui operating right now, limited service and having to block off seats to maintain social distancing? I can see only the window seats being used.

From reading French media, reservations on TGVs will be limited to 50%... one can presume that the same will apply to Ouigo too.

Also of note that in France it is 1 metre of social distance, not the 2 metres we are accustomed to over here.

 

[HSTEd]

A Ouigo train is a high-density budget seating service. Blue seats in 2-2 arrangement throughout with no bar. The interior is new, all of them are double-deckers. They do run at full speed on the HS lines but they don't often start from the major HS stations like Lyon PD, Paris-Lyon etc.

It is worth noting that the seating density is not particularly dense by UK standards.

I'm not even sure the seat pitch is particularly reduced compared to regular TGV Second Class.

 

[Peter Kelford]

inOui is a silly name (because it sounds like "ennui" which means "boredom") for a regular TGV. The French love giving products silly names, though.

InOui actually means surprise/amazement in French...

 

[Bletchleyite]

InOui actually means surprise/amazement in French...

To me it's too close to "ennui". It's still a stupid name for a train service, but incredibly French.

 

[CC 72100]

To me it's too close to "ennui".

Not to the native speaker it wouldn't be.

But agree it's a bit of a daft name, but then the SNCF do have form with brand names that don't really bring anything to the party (cough cough Téoz).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not to the native speaker it wouldn't be.

But agree it's a bit of a daft name, but then the SNCF do have form with brand names that don't really bring anything to the party (cough cough Téoz).

It's not just SNCF, it's a French business thing, they really seem to go for it. Another great example is the way Orange used to name their airtime plans after animals rather than any useful attribute about them that might help you decide which one is best for you.

Re Teoz I actually quite do like the idea of branded train categories where you know what you're getting with a given brand - InterCity is of course the classic, and Regional Railways Alphaline ("nice and straightforward" was the strapline) did it quite well too - but some of these just seem like Ray Stenning had a few pints too many and got into a "ridiculous branding" contest with the guy who does it for WMT, or something.

 

[Peter Kelford]

To me it's too close to "ennui". It's still a stupid name for a train service, but incredibly French.

Ennui is pronounce

On-we for an English speaker - emphasis on the 'n'
In-we for InOui - emphasis on the 'I'

So not that close.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ennui is pronounce

On-we for an English speaker - emphasis on the 'n'
In-we for InOui - emphasis on the 'I'

So not that close.

A bit like we come up with "Thamestink", "Miseryrail" and the likes, I wonder do the French mispronounce it deliberately?

 

[Peter Kelford]

A bit like we come up with "Thamestink", "Miseryrail" and the likes, I wonder do the French mispronounce it deliberately?

I don't think it's particularly common, no...

 

[godfreycomplex]

A bit like we come up with "Thamestink", "Miseryrail" and the likes, I wonder do the French mispronounce it deliberately?

That kind of thing isn’t considered the height of incisive scandalous mirth in most other countries. Tells you something...

 

[Jamesrob637]

From reading French media, reservations on TGVs will be limited to 50%... one can presume that the same will apply to Ouigo too.

Also of note that in France it is 1 metre of social distance, not the 2 metres we are accustomed to over here.

So almost normal then in terms of distancing. 1 metre is barely a tall person's arm's length.

 

[Ianno87]

That kind of thing isn’t considered the height of incisive scandalous mirth in most other countries. Tells you something...

I wonder what level of trolling non-UK railway Twitter accounts have to deal with in comparison to the level of bile that gets directed at social media staff in the UK? (From which the current crisis has at least provided some relief from)

 

[Bletchleyite]

So almost normal then in terms of distancing. 1 metre is barely a tall person's arm's length.

I don't like people being closer than that in normal circumstances!

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

The creation of different brands and quality levels for the same item has a long business school pedigree as a means of segmenting the market. The classic example is washing powder, which historically was actually only made by two suppliers (three these days with Ecover), yet supermarkets had yards of shelving devoted to the different brands, Daz, Persil etc. etc. Supermarket own brands are effectively just sub-brands, again made by the same suppliers. Those that want a slightly better product can have it, and pay more whilst the multiplicity of brands makes it hard for a genuine new entrant to get a look in (step forward Flixtrain, which has just announced a delay on entering the French rail market despite their bus operation being already well known across the country).

 

[Jamesrob637]

To me it's too close to "ennui". It's still a stupid name for a train service, but incredibly French.

Unprecedented maybe? That's kind of unheard of, which is what inOui wanted to create (French speaker myself).

 

[Peter Kelford]

Unprecedented maybe? That's kind of unheard of, which is what inOui wanted to create (French speaker myself).

I don't know why they changed it. Keep the blue and grey or even the orange (although that would seem as if it came from the 1980s...) and just use the bright blue and pink for Ouigo.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I don't know why they changed it. Keep the blue and grey or even the orange (although that would seem as if it came from the 1980s...) and just use the bright blue and pink for Ouigo.

I'm trying to visualise an orange TGV with inoui written instead of TGV. That would be interesting.

Actually instead of cutting up the Sud-Est sets, couldn't they have been used on Ouigo? Or were they just knackered? I know they'd been pounding up and down the LGV for 35 odd years. There are still a few SE around even if withdrawn I believe.

 

[Peter Kelford]

I'm trying to visualise an orange TGV with inoui written instead of TGV. That would be interesting.

Actually instead of cutting up the Sud-Est sets, couldn't they have been used on Ouigo? Or were they just knackered? I know they'd been pounding up and down the LGV for 35 odd years. There are still a few SE around even if withdrawn I believe.

10m KMs each

 

[30907]

10m miles each

Also, single deck so low capacity.

 

[Peter Kelford]

Also, single deck so low capacity.

Even lower than the single deck TGV Réseaux

 

[43096]

10m miles each

Hmmmmm. The oldest two were reported at 14m km in 2018: https://www.railpassion.fr/materiel-actualites-rp/1978-2018-40-ans-de-service-rames-tgv-pse-01-02/

In some ways it’s not actually that impressive: some HST power have higher mileages.

 

[hexagon789]

Hmmmmm. The oldest two were reported at 14m km in 2018: https://www.railpassion.fr/materiel-actualites-rp/1978-2018-40-ans-de-service-rames-tgv-pse-01-02/

In some ways it’s not actually that impressive: some HST power have higher mileages.

I think there was a discussion about this previously with the point that the TGVs weren't quite as intensively used at least in the early years. Certainly the earliest timetables had gaps as long as three hours between services in the Paris-Lyon corridor.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The equivalent of a car with half a million but mainly motorway mileage.

Some hardy soul may buy it for pennies or accept it as a freebie, but most would deem it uneconomic.

 

[Peter Kelford]

Hmmmmm. The oldest two were reported at 14m km in 2018: https://www.railpassion.fr/materiel-actualites-rp/1978-2018-40-ans-de-service-rames-tgv-pse-01-02/

In some ways it’s not actually that impressive: some HST power have higher mileages.

My apologies, I meant Kms.

 

[Panceltic]

Ennui is pronounce

On-we for an English speaker - emphasis on the 'n'
In-we for InOui - emphasis on the 'I'

So not that close.

Actually, ennui is pronounced /ɑ̃.nɥi/, and inouï is pronounced /i.nwi/.

I agree that they don't sound very close. Like "Andy" and "Inty" for example.