Check your luggage, the SNCF will be distributing fines from mid-September on board TGV and Intercités.
It often happens that we are really crowded when we travel by train, especially when we go to winter sports, with ski outfits and specific snow sports equipment, or with family, with all the luggage dedicated to the children’s things. From September, if you travel on a medium or long distance SNCF train, you will have to be careful before packing your luggage.
No more unlimited baggage transport, the SNCF is tightening the rules on baggage transport on board TGV inOui and Intercités. As is the case on board an airplane, users are now limited to two labeled bags per person: one cabin bag and one hand bag. This new rule will be applied from September 15, 2024 and failure to comply will result in a fine of 50 euros! And that’s not all: you will have to ensure that these bags do not exceed a certain size. The cabin baggage must be “with maximum dimensions of 70 x 90 x 50 cm (suitcases, large backpacks, hiking bags, sports bags)” and the hand baggage “with maximum dimensions of 40 x 30 x 15 cm (backpacks, shopping bags, computer bags)”, specifies the SNCF Voyageurs website.
Users who are carrying a large object such as a stroller, scooter, musical instrument, waterboard or snowboard will also be allowed to travel with cabin baggage and hand luggage, provided that the size of these heavy objects does not exceed 90 x 130 cm and that they are folded for the stroller or scooter or stored in a case labeled for the instrument or board. Finally, each traveler is limited to one pair of skis per person, carried in a labeled cover, with no size limit.
Bicycle travellers have two options: either they travel with their folded or dismantled bicycle in a labelled cover with maximum dimensions of 90 x 130 cm, with “1 labelled double bicycle bag and 1 labelled hand luggage”, or they book an additional ticket at 10 euros per bicycle to travel with their unfolded or dismantled bicycle and will be entitled to “1 labelled luggage, 1 labelled double bag and 1 labelled hand luggage”, underlines SNCF Voyageurs.
According to the railway management, this new tightening of the screws allows “to avoid abuses or questions from our customers. Two large bags and one hand bag allowed correspond to what it is already possible to carry oneself and in one go”. Until now, the number of bags was only limited in Ouigo trains, the subsidiary low cost from the SNCF…