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Travelling from Paris to Rouen, Monday 22nd May. Have Eurail Pass.

Specifically trying to book TER 3119 but I have also tried to book other trains earlier and later. Some of them seem to require reservations and some not. (According to Eurail)

In each case, when I try to book a one way journey Paris to Rouen on their website via my home computer there is no option to add it to my shopping cart. On the phone app it lets me add the train service to “My Trip”.

Question 1 - Does that mean I can board the train?

Also, the Eurail website and the phone app both say a seat reservation is required for this particular train. I looked up the train service on SNCF and confirmed this. I also read elsewhere (Seat61 I think) that TER trains are included on the Eurail pass. So that means I can just board the train I presume and do not have to pay any extra (except of course for a seat reservation). 

 

BUT - and here is my question #2: How do you buy the seat reservation? You can’t on the app and you can’t via the Eurail website. It just says seats are unavailable. Maybe Eurail has a limited number of seat allocations and I can’t board it. Maybe. 

I’m thinking I’m just going to rock up to the train station on the day of travel (as I’ll be coming from London on the same day), go to the ticket window, present my Eurail pass (which is on my phone) to the agent and (hopefully) he sells me a seat reservation for the next train. 

Will that work? 

I’m at a loss of how else do I get a confirmed booking on that train along with a seat reservation. 

Hope somebody out there knows how this system works!

Thanks guys. 

 

You need a reservation when going from or to Paris. All Information can be found here (in french):

https://www.ter.sncf.com/normandie/tarifs-cartes/offre-krono-plus/reservation

AFAIK it's only possible to do a reservation online for holder of a french abonnement. But I wouldn't worry about that. Just get your reservation (should be just 1,50 €) when arriving in France at the station. It's normally no problem as it's a frequent service.

Thanks Hektor.

Most helpful. I will just get myself to the station after I arrive from London and get the reservation as you say. Also I have since learned about “Train Nomad” versus normal TER trains. It’s a complicated system!

 It’s a complicated system!

Welcome travelling with SNCF 😉 Other countries are much more straightforward.

It’s not much btw, the reservation. About 1,5 EUR per seat I think.

Thanks for the welcome Brendan! 

I’m moving on to Germany now - Paris to Cologne. Got that sorted.

Fingers crossed that Cologne to Koblenz is easier than Paris to Rouen. 

Reservations sounds cheap. Eurail has it at much more than that. 

PS - Eurail pass is kind of a mess. I’m working through it but it is taking a fair amount of time. 

A useful feature of the mibile app is that you can add any eligible train to your trip manually so, if you are unable to find the specific train in the planner to copy it over,you can scroll down and select add manually. Then you enter the info in a few seconds  (Train number, scheduled departure time and start and finish stations). This can be useful for situations such as arriving at a connection and finding an earlier train available (or even deciding on an ad-hoc stop for something to eat or see). You then transfer the train as any other to your pass to create your travel ticket.

Thanks for the welcome Brendan! 

I’m moving on to Germany now - Paris to Cologne. Got that sorted.

Fingers crossed that Cologne to Koblenz is easier than Paris to Rouen. 

Reservations sounds cheap. Eurail has it at much more than that. 

PS - Eurail pass is kind of a mess. I’m working through it but it is taking a fair amount of time. 

With Thalys? It’s a bit expensive, with the reservation but for Paris-Cologne it’s quite okay and fast. Avoiding it is possible, but takes more time.

Cologne to Koblenz, no extra reservations needed (although they’re optional on IC/EC, but usually plenty of space). Plenty of trains. Quite scenic line too. Make sure to sit on the left in the direction of the traffic from Cologne to Koblenz/Mainz, to get the best views on the Rhine gorge!

Koblenz-Mainz is even a bit more scenic, than Cologne-Koblenz.

A useful feature of the mibile app is that you can add any eligible train to your trip manually so, if you are unable to find the specific train in the planner to copy it over,you can scroll down and select add manually. Then you enter the info in a few seconds  (Train number, scheduled departure time and start and finish stations). 

Thanks Yorkie, this is a very useful tip. I’m actually finding the mobile app to be a little more flexible as I work with it. Now even more so!

 

With Thalys?

Hi BrendanDB, it is with Thalys. Yes expensive but we’re learning the navigation tips and tricks.

This community of experts is helping.

Left hand side it is for the Rhine Gorge!

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