Travel with Confidence
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and French government directives, we’re taking special measures to keep you safe in our stations and aboard our trains. Here’s everything you need to know.
Updated on
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How the new lockdown will affect your travel
We’ll adapt our timetables gradually in response to your needs and government-imposed restrictions. Here’s what to expect:
- If you have a ticket for rail travel after November 4, we’ll contact you via SMS or e-mail to confirm that your train will run or to notify you that it has been cancelled. You can expect to hear from us no later than two days before your departure.
- If your journey includes a connection to a TER regional train, please check the Assistant SNCF app or the TER website for the affected region, where timetables will be posted no later than 17.00 each day for trains running the following day.
- If you have the Assistant SNCF app, you can check the timetable for any train on the day before departure. Every day at 17.00, we’ll post updated information on trains for the following day.
- In compliance with heightened public health measures, we have suspended on-board dining service, effective from 2 November.
Please remember that for any journey you must have a completed Exemption Certificate showing that you meet the official criteria for leaving your home.
Download the Exemption Certificate
We know that travel planning is difficult in these challenging times. To give you more peace of mind, we will continue to offer free exchanges and refunds on all TGV INOUI, OUIGO1, Intercités and TER trains through 4 January 2021.
Planning your travel
To board your train, you must:
- wear a mask
- have a valid ticket and identification
Travel to the Netherlands
From Tuesday, 29 December, all travellers to the Netherlands from high-risk regions must have tested negative for Covid-19, under new public health measures adopted by the Dutch government on 24 December 2020.
As a result, passengers boarding Thalys trains for destinations in the Netherlands must present the results of a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before their arrival in the country, with the exception of children under age 13, for whom no test is required.
Your Covid-19 symptom-free affidavit form for Italy
Travelling to or from Italy? Before your journey, you must complete online and download an affidavit stating that you have no symptoms of Covid-19, as required under measures adopted by the Italian government to fight the pandemic.
Planning your journey at an SNCF ticket window or sales office
Hours at SNCF ticket windows and sales offices may vary due to the unprecedented conditions created by Covid-19. If you need to get information, plan or change a journey, or exchange tickets, please use:
- the Assistant SNCF app and/or the OUI.sncf app and website
- the self-service machines near the entrance to your station
If you need to plan an upcoming journey, please make an appointment with one of our advisers as required by public health guidelines.
Staying safe together
It’s up to all of us to follow public health guidelines, so that everyone can travel with confidence.
- All adults and all children ages 11 and older must wear a mask in our stations and aboard our trains. Law enforcement and Railway Security officers will check for compliance at the entrances to major stations. If you do not wear a mask, you are subject to a €135 fine.
- You may purchase masks and hand sanitizer from vending machines and in-station shops. You’ll also find hand sanitizer in nearly 200 dispensers installed in 120 stations.
- The SNCF employees on hand during your journey will wear masks to protect everyone.
Public health measures in the station and during boarding
To keep you safe, we’ve adopted new in-station crowd flow measures and modified our boarding procedures. Here’s what’s new:
- Law enforcement and Railway Security officers are now positioned at station entrances to ensure that everyone wears a mask in stations and aboard trains.
- In large stations, inbound and outbound foot traffic are kept separate.
- New floor markings promote social distancing in waiting areas, under the main departures and arrivals boards, at self-service machines, on escalators and on platforms, and we’ve installed queue management solutions in front of sales areas and shops.
- Posters and loudspeaker announcements remind everyone to practice social distancing.
- We’ve stepped up cleaning and disinfecting procedures in stations and aboard trains.
Ticket sales
To avoid having to wait in the station, please buy your tickets remotely whenever you can, using the Assistant SNCF app and/or the OUI.sncf app and website.
Assistant SNCF
Access the full range of transport options—train, car with driver, metro, bus and more—all the way to your final destination. Let us take care of your journey, from booking to boarding.
Exchanges and refunds
Through 4 January, ticket exchanges and refunds for TGV INOUI, INTERCITÉS and connecting TER trains are free of charge across all distribution channels.
1 For OUIGO trains, free exchanges and refunds are available until 90 minutes before departure.