High-speed route
Ouigo
Paris → Lyon · France
SNCF’s low-cost double-decker TGV, launched in 2013 with fares from €10, races Paris to Lyon at up to 300 km/h.
Ouigo was SNCF’s 2013 answer to the budget airlines: strip the TGV Duplex to 634 sea-blue seats, sell tickets from ten euros, and run the world’s first low-cost high-speed service down the original 1981 line to Lyon. The formula (luggage fees, no dining car, occasional suburban terminals) proved so effective it now carries a large share of the corridor and has been exported to Spain. The Burgundy scenery is identical to the full-fare train; only the legroom knows the difference.
Along the way
- Marne-la-Vallée and Gare de Lyon departures
- LGV Sud-Est racing ground
- Burgundy and Mâconnais slopes
- Saône approach to Part-Dieu
How this line was checked
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 7 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits 0.1 km from the shape of TGV 6603
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Ouigo?
The Ouigo runs 427 km from Paris to Lyon.
How long does the Ouigo take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 1 h 57 min for the 427 km. That is an average of 219 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 300 km/h.
Who runs the Ouigo?
SNCF, with TGV Duplex (Ouigo).
How old is the Ouigo?
The line has been in service since 2013. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How often does the Ouigo run?
Several daily each way.
More high-speed routes
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Drops 75 m below the sea through the 50.5 km Channel Tunnel, 37.9 km of it under the seabed, the longest undersea stretch of any rail tunnel.
Wikipedia ↗ - TGV inOui
France’s original 1981 LGV forms the first leg; today the TGV holds 320 km/h nearly all the way to the Mediterranean.
Wikipedia ↗ - AVE
Scheduled at 300 km/h, this line flipped one of the world’s busiest air routes to rail.
Wikipedia ↗ - AVE
Spain’s first AVE, built for Expo ’92 in standard gauge, the line that reset Spanish railways.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in France.
Planning this trip? Journey time & direct trains: Lyon → Paris · Paris → Lyon.