seen on fast trains to and from Paris lately: The SNCF drastically undersells the environmental advantage of taking the train. the 3g-to-260g difference is actually much more drastic and thus should also look like it - here 87x difference looks only like 4x. I don’t want to go all Tufte on French rail, but excusez-moi: the illustrations and colors can stay, but accurate representation matters.
PS: the trains were punctual!!
Anecdotally, but I was pleasantly surprised how full the Eurostar and TGV were on my recent trip Brussels - Toulouse - Barcelona and back. Punctual trains, comfortable seats, and a "Thank you for choosing the most eco-friendly way of travel" at every station.
But indeed easily twice as expensive as flying would have been...
@thpar @C_Chell @nrchtct The issue with SNCF is they don't run enough trains, and full trains is a symptom of that. And the Eurostar subsidiary is pushing that approach to the limit, see @jon 's timeless piece on the matter: https://jonworth.eu/make-international-rail-cheaper-capacity-on-a-route-is-the-crucial-issue/
Rare are the routes were SNCF runs regular hourly trains, so once you use connections suddenly the system as a whole isn't that fast anymore. And if you need a last-minute ticket it's likely sold out or prohibitively expensive. That's not dependable.
It's a common refrain: more people would take the train - especially on international routes - if only it were cheaper! That line of argument assumes that there are actually more trains to take. In other words that there is spare capacity. The problem is that - in many cases
@thpar @C_Chell @nrchtct Another case of the undependable system is cancelled services without replacement option, especially for regional trains as described by @jon again last week-end: https://jonworth.eu/sncf-and-bourgogne-franche-comte-a-railway-that-has-given-up/
Go to Denmark and an army of replacement buses are ready to take passengers in case of planned works.
In other words: yes electricity is green in France and TGVs are fast, but SNCF spoils it all by not running enough, dependable trains. Meanwhile, car-dependency and far-right prevail.
Tomorrow morning - Saturday 28th March 2026 - I had planned to make a trip I make half a dozen times a year. After a Friday evening teaching assignment in Paris, I would normally take a TER regional train from Paris back to Nuits-sous-Ravières in Bourgogne on a Saturday morning.
Marian Dörk
C_Chell
Thomas
Cycling on Rails