In planning my French journey, I wanted to take advantage of the new low-cost high-speed train system France has spent billions of euros developing. Known as OUIGO (like “yes! go!”), the SNCF developed this as a new product from scratch to compete with the discount airline product that is risking to takeover the French railway market. As luck would have it, I could take a high-speed OUIGO from Lyon to Montpelier and experience some of the south of France that isn’t Provence or the Riviera. I saw that Montpelier had a HI Hostel as well, so I figured, “Hey I’m a pro at French backpacking now!”
The OUIGO system fascinates me because in order for the SNCF to cut costs on its trains, it had to get rid of conductors and find stations for trains to arrive and depart that had lower usage fees. This is all a mish-mosh of funny money because the French train system is completely nationalized. Even though different government agencies run the stations and the rails, at the end of the day it is all the French government. Because of work rules, the SNCF could not remove conductors from its existing train lines. Also, the agency that runs the stations was unwilling to renegotiate usage fees with the agency that runs the lines. The solution: build an entirely new train system adjacent to the existing one. Is this an insane idea? Yes. Would this ever happen in America? Hell no.
Lyon
Andrew and I
I decided to stay at the HI Lyon in the center of the city for one night after Aix-Les-Bains in order to break up my journey (as there was no direct ride from Aix-Les-Bains to Lyon Airport). The good news is that my friend Andrew from Australia was in Lyon at the same time! He was the first person I had ever met as a solo traveler! Back when I was 21, we were roommates in a hostel in Paris. It was so lovely catching up with him.
What does this parallel train system mean exactly? In the case of OUIGO from Lyon to Montpelier, the stations are actually Lyon Airport to Montpelier South (not near the city center). In order to save costs, the SNCF got lower usage fees for OUIGO at these far-from-center stations. The tracks that connect them are mostly brand new. They shave an additional 15 minutes off the ride from Lyon Airport to Montpelier City Center. However, this time reduction and time saving does not really manifest itself at all in reality. It’s quite sad actually considering how many billions of euros have been spent on this. You are dropped off so far from the city center, that it takes about 40 minutes to get where the legacy train lines would have left you. Mind you, the legacy train lines were high speed as well, it’s just that they had to slow down as they approached the city center. In Montpelier Sud, you have to wait for a bus (along with 200 other people from the OUI GO) to take to the final stop on the tram line. Only then do you ride the tram to the city center. It was really not fun and not the kind of grand entrance I like to experience while riding the rails of Europe.
The cost really is super low though. Even though it took me much longer to get where I wanted to go and the product is advertised as a time-saver, if you want to save money, OUIGO is an excellent option. The Lyon City Center to Montpelier City Center train ticket was around 80 EUR while the OUIGO Lyon Airport to Montpelier Sud ticket was 20 EUR.
