Those relying on travelling in France would be better served to avoid the SNCF railway. Choose…read moreanother carrier. SNCF is a confused, dysfunctional clown show.
Our train stopped unexpectedly for 20 minutes. The delay caused a dozen passengers to all miss a connecting train to De-Gaulle (CDG) Airport. One would think a major train service would have a contingency plan for unexpected service failures, but not the case here.
Finding an English speaker was a challenge, so they provided a greasy yard worker. He offered a bottle of water and said there was nothing he could do. We were on our own.
Make enough noise for a management staffer, and finally 'Mr. Pepy" appears. Seems he is the CEO of SCNF. Like every clown show, there is a lead clown, and Pepy earned that title. He had no idea what to do. No answers, no solutions. What a way to run a company. He provided an inedible SNCF snack and told us were on our own. 'Wait overnight for the next train to GDG'. 12 customers all missing flights because of a dysfunctional railway and an incompetent boob in charge.
Eventually, SNCF buckled in and provided train tickets to Paris, still not getting us any closer to the Airport. Suggestions for a van or a bus fell on deaf ears, and most were now facing an overnight stay. In fact, they couldn't even tell us the train platform. "look for a TV screen." Seems this attitude has permeated the country.
Now, off to Paris, navigate the subways with full travel luggage, then the airport, purchase new plane tickets ($400 USD) and now 4 hours late to the destination. SNCF and Pepy get an "F" - find alternate transportation.
Epilogue: Returning to the US, we submitted a refund claim via the SNCF website for the incomplete trip. True to SNCF form, our claim submitted in English received a French response advising we would receive a voucher for the incomplete trip that we could use anytime in the next year. Pathetic.