Recently Air France and SNF announced 7 new travel connections for people travelling to and from France by train and air.
Air France and SNF had been offering the Train and Air deal in which journeys to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly airports via train could be made respectively. But since last week, the joint venture now offers up to 7 new travel connections for ease of access. This includes: Bordeaux Saint-Jean Train Station, Lille Europe Train Station, Nantes Train Station etc.
How does it work?
Such package deals work by providing passengers easy access to and from the airport. There are two package deals to choose from: Train + Air or Air + Train.
The Train + Air deal involves passengers taking a train to the Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Massy TGV station before taking an international flight via Air France lasting about a day – but passengers must depart from either Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Paris-Orly airport.
The Air + Train deal is a little bit more complicated. Whilst passengers flying into Paris-Charles de Gaulle can simply head to the airport’s TGV train station and continue the journey from there, passengers arriving at Paris-Orly airport will have to wait for a taxi to pick them up and drive them to the Massy TGV station (free of charge) for the next part of their journey.
So pourquoi (why)?
The TGV is France’s fastest train service and can be compared to London’s Metro. Air France says that this package: provides a ‘‘smoother trip’’, can earn you more miles even on the rail route, and offers you the chance to travel in the same class (business or first) on train as you were by flight, by way of customisation. But this could also be a reflection of France and its bid to reduce emissions.
New connections from disparate places could be a nod to the new French policy which bans short haul flights, replacing them with routes via train travel to reduce unnecessary carbon emissions.
From April this year French law makers banned short haul flights that lasted under two and a half hours, and according to the BBC, with measures which could affect travel between Paris and cities including: Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux – so it is apt that connections to these train stations are now available for passengers and to curb emissions.
Such package deals shows France working towards the Paris Agreement, with their aim of cutting down CO2 emissions of 1990 to 40% – it also frees up seats for long haul travel, something that also proves a problem for climate change…
What are your thoughts on AF’s new connections? Let us know below.
