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Stranded in Barcelona - not seat reaservation to France / Paris

  • 29 December 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 123 views

I am in Barcelona now and want to continue my journey 09.01.2023
by train Barcelona 1033 - Paris gare de Lyon 1720.

But I cannot purchase the seat reservation here in Barcelona at the Inernational Ticket Desk at Barcelona Sants RENFE Main station.
 
Here is the official background:

++++++++++++++++
 
As of December 11 of 2022, high-speed trains operated by
Renfe-SNCF en Coopération
have stopped providing service between France and Spain.
++++++++++++++++



Having cued up for an hour, the clerk told me that from 11.12.2022 SNCF only could sell seat reservations to me ☹️ And there is no SNCF Representation here in Spain.

I cannot get any reservation help at https://www.sncf.com
and only talk to a (limited) chatbot.
 

How can I get my seat reservation?

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Best answer by Al_G 29 December 2022, 21:49

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5 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +14
I am in Barcelona now and want to continue my journey 09.01.2023
by train Barcelona 1033 - Paris gare de Lyon 1720.

But I cannot purchase the seat reservation here in Barcelona at the Inernational Ticket Desk at Barcelona Sants RENFE Main station.
 
Here is the official background:

++++++++++++++++
 
As of December 11 of 2022, high-speed trains operated by
Renfe-SNCF en Coopération
have stopped providing service between France and Spain.
++++++++++++++++



Having cued up for an hour, the clerk told me that from 11.12.2022 SNCF only could sell seat reservations to me ☹️ And there is no SNCF Representation here in Spain.

I cannot get any reservation help at https://www.sncf.com
and only talk to a (limited) chatbot.
 

How can I get my seat reservation?

You either call SNCF

or you use the regionaltrain to Portbou/Cerbere and change there for a train to Perignan/Montpellier and catch from there a domestic TGV to Paris. Or you use the Nighttrain from Cerbere to Paris. 

You either call SNCF

I am in Spain.
How can I get in touch with SNCF without calling - avoiding high international calling costs?

 

or you use the regionaltrain to Portbou/Cerbere and change there for a train to Perignan/Montpellier and catch from there a domestic TGV to Paris. Or you use the Nighttrain from Cerbere to Paris. 

 

The TGV takes 7 hours.
- How many hours would your alternative journey take?
- How can I get the reservation in that case?

 
 
Any comment on this?

++++++++++++++++
 
As of December 11 of 2022, high-speed trains operated by
Renfe-SNCF en Coopération
have stopped providing service between France and Spain.
++++++++++++++++
Userlevel 7
Badge +3

You either call SNCF

I am in Spain.
How can I get in touch with SNCF without calling - avoiding high international calling costs?

 

or you use the regionaltrain to Portbou/Cerbere and change there for a train to Perignan/Montpellier and catch from there a domestic TGV to Paris. Or you use the Nighttrain from Cerbere to Paris. 

 

The TGV takes 7 hours.
- How many hours would your alternative journey take?
- How can I get the reservation in that case?

 
 
Any comment on this?

 

 

“Please” and “thank you” would be the appropriate companions to your query not this rude remark.

 

 

“Please” and “thank you” would be the appropriate companions to your query not this rude remark.

 

Thank you, of course 😉

I am thankful in advance, looking forward getting a feasible solution.

 
And please: do you have any comment on this concrete situation?

++++++++++++++++
 
As of December 11 of 2022, high-speed trains operated by
Renfe-SNCF en Coopération
have stopped providing service between France and Spain.
++++++++++++++++
Userlevel 7
Badge +3

It is as it says, the remaining direct trains are now run by SNCF only as their joint operation with RENFE ended. Apparently RENFE are not selling reservations or possibly tickets for this any longer.

These 2 operators seem to go out of their way to be difficult and obstructive in many many ways, particularly with interrail passholders.

 

You can book the Direct train from Interrail booking service for €37

https://www.interrail.eu/en/book-reservations

 

Or as @seewulf said; get a reservation by telephone from SNCF in France

 

Or use the cheaper option non-reservation connection via Cerbere and Perpignan or Montpelier.

 

You can reserve the domestic TGV leg here https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish

You will need pass cover number

Yes, this will take longer, it is typically 2-3H Barcelona - Cerbere and  7h from Cerbere to Paris

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