Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 17 - 11 Apr - Ravières - Paris - Stuttgart - München - Budapest
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Ah. Now we’ve got a SNCF employee at the ticket gates - that are obviously set up to scan any ticket - shouting at passengers that it’s only the OUIGO boarding, not the inOui too.
#SNCFlogicAnd we’re going to have the really *amazing* crush here. The inOui platform will be announced 2 mins BEFORE the OUIGO leaves (20 mins vs 18 mins). So anyone running for the OUIGO is going to be stuck behind a crush of inOui passengers
#SNCFlogic -
The Birdy is equipped with a better stand for this trip. And the bags are mounted ready for a quick trip across Paris to Gare de l’Est in the spring sunshine.
@jon Tss. the sheer opulence of that tiny foldable bike having a stand.
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So between 0900 and 1000 there are no Paris - Strasbourg trains (and only 3 long distance trains total, and Frankfurt is via Saarbrücken). Between 1000 and 1100 there are 3 - a SNCF OUIGO, a SNCF inOui just 17 mins later, and a SNCF-DB TGV to Stuttgart (that’s full, and cut off my screenshot) #SNCFlogic
The wastes of capacity you document regularly seem criminal.
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So between 0900 and 1000 there are no Paris - Strasbourg trains (and only 3 long distance trains total, and Frankfurt is via Saarbrücken). Between 1000 and 1100 there are 3 - a SNCF OUIGO, a SNCF inOui just 17 mins later, and a SNCF-DB TGV to Stuttgart (that’s full, and cut off my screenshot) #SNCFlogic
@jon whenever I hear people in the UK criticise the railways here, I might send them this post. Yes, the UK system has many issues, but I cannot conceive of a long-distance terminus in London having only 3 trains in an hour outside of engineering works.
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@jon whenever I hear people in the UK criticise the railways here, I might send them this post. Yes, the UK system has many issues, but I cannot conceive of a long-distance terminus in London having only 3 trains in an hour outside of engineering works.
@deadliftbear Right. Or indeed any terminus in any major city other than France or Spain.
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And we’re going to have the really *amazing* crush here. The inOui platform will be announced 2 mins BEFORE the OUIGO leaves (20 mins vs 18 mins). So anyone running for the OUIGO is going to be stuck behind a crush of inOui passengers
#SNCFlogicAh the idiots have announced the platform but not opened the ticket gates. Well done! #SNCFlogic
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Ah the idiots have announced the platform but not opened the ticket gates. Well done! #SNCFlogic
However my point above was wrong - they did board the OUIGO and inOui from separate platforms
They then just hadn’t opened the gates 
️ #SNCFlogic -
However my point above was wrong - they did board the OUIGO and inOui from separate platforms
They then just hadn’t opened the gates ️ #SNCFlogicHowever you’ve got to admire ticket gates that are staff intensive, do not work well for passengers (QR codes often don’t scan half the time) *and* do not prevent you getting on the wrong train. Which is silly anyway when you have two brands of train run by the same company a few minutes apart, but with incompatible ticketing. #SNCFlogic
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Ah the idiots have announced the platform but not opened the ticket gates. Well done! #SNCFlogic
@jon Thought that was bad, but now I'm just thankful this doesn't involve a second gate for no good reason [that I can think of].
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However my point above was wrong - they did board the OUIGO and inOui from separate platforms
They then just hadn’t opened the gates ️ #SNCFlogic@jon I really really hate ticket gates. They are a form of distrust that makes no sense to me
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@jon I really really hate ticket gates. They are a form of distrust that makes no sense to me
@miniBill Right. Same. Although the Dutch have at least designed some that seem to scan tickets more often than not. Unlike the French ones!
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@miniBill Right. Same. Although the Dutch have at least designed some that seem to scan tickets more often than not. Unlike the French ones!
@jon I almost lost my train because the ones in Arnhem failed to scan my ÖBB ticket tho (and it was Stupid AM so no one to open it for me)
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However you’ve got to admire ticket gates that are staff intensive, do not work well for passengers (QR codes often don’t scan half the time) *and* do not prevent you getting on the wrong train. Which is silly anyway when you have two brands of train run by the same company a few minutes apart, but with incompatible ticketing. #SNCFlogic
@jon you should see SNCF staff looking amazed at us boarding in Gare du Nord without platform checks without any issues
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However you’ve got to admire ticket gates that are staff intensive, do not work well for passengers (QR codes often don’t scan half the time) *and* do not prevent you getting on the wrong train. Which is silly anyway when you have two brands of train run by the same company a few minutes apart, but with incompatible ticketing. #SNCFlogic
@jon never understood the point of these platform gates for long distance trains. You still have ticket control inside the train, they require 2 or 3 members of staff as they are dysfunctional and confusing and they are wildly inefficient for the onboarding of an 800pax train. In other words, they cost money, they serve no purpose and they are an annoyance.
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@jon never understood the point of these platform gates for long distance trains. You still have ticket control inside the train, they require 2 or 3 members of staff as they are dysfunctional and confusing and they are wildly inefficient for the onboarding of an 800pax train. In other words, they cost money, they serve no purpose and they are an annoyance.
@tomtom Right, I agree. But they create jobs, so maybe in the SNCF logic it makes sense?
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@jon you should see SNCF staff looking amazed at us boarding in Gare du Nord without platform checks without any issues
@maartje YOU MIGHT HAVE THE WRONG PASSENGER ON BOARD!
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@jon I almost lost my train because the ones in Arnhem failed to scan my ÖBB ticket tho (and it was Stupid AM so no one to open it for me)
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@maartje YOU MIGHT HAVE THE WRONG PASSENGER ON BOARD!
@jon thats why we can throw people out again
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However you’ve got to admire ticket gates that are staff intensive, do not work well for passengers (QR codes often don’t scan half the time) *and* do not prevent you getting on the wrong train. Which is silly anyway when you have two brands of train run by the same company a few minutes apart, but with incompatible ticketing. #SNCFlogic
@jon OuiGo is a subsidiary tho, that's not the same company
And I'm fairly sure the ticket gate disaster is a SNCF Gares&Connexions doing (and their own staff), not a SNCF Voyageurs. Someone in a desk high up thought about the "access to platform allowed only with valid ticket" rule too much
