Today is a big day for SNCF. The company has just launched with great fanfare its new all-in-one service, SNCF Connect, which is supposed to simplify travel for users by offering them a single application and online service. Thanks to it, it is possible to carry out in the same application all the operations that previously had to be carried out on different platforms. As much to say it right away, this is excellent news.
If in the past you had to use Oui.sncf to book a ticket, go to SNCF.com to consult the traffic situation, use the SNCF Assistant to find a route and go to TGV Pro to exchange a professional ticket, all these operations can now be carried out from the SNCF Connect mobile application or on the dedicated website. On iOS and Android, the Oui.sncf application disappears in favor of SNCF Connect through a simple update.
With its new application, SNCF is going a long way. In its press release, the company explains that a team of 300 employees worked for a year to allow the application to be what it is today. Starting from scratch, the SNCF opted for Flutter, an open source development kit created by Google, which made it possible to develop an identical application on Android and iOS. If, on paper, the offer seems idyllic, what is it really about the use of this new “super application” which will replace four?
A simplified customer journey
If you used Oui.sncf, the first opening of SNCF Connect will surprise you. The application sports a default dark theme, in tune with the times, and it is not possible to change it, regardless of the configuration of your smartphone settings. From now on, the application is structured around four sections: To travelthe first page that appears when opening the application, Tickets, Offers and Account.
The first tab, To travel, makes it possible to launch a request in a universal way. It can be a request for information, which will open a chat window, or the search for a destination.
You are then prompted to enter your starting point so that the application searches for all possible existing routes. SNCF Connect first displays the best route (the fastest), followed by other routes, all means of transport combined, with for each of them the details of each stage of the journey.
For each suggested route, the application obviously offers to book the corresponding train ticket, on all existing lines, Eurostar, Thalys and Lyria included. This tab To travel also allows you to have quick access to your favourites, whether they are routes, timetables or addresses. It is also from this tab that you can quickly take a look at traffic information, for Île-de-France (trains, metros, buses, Tram, RER) and by region.
The second section of the application, Tickets, allows, as its name suggests, to access all the train tickets for your future and past journeys, with the possibility of importing your tickets by entering the file reference number and your name . Small problem however, if Oui.sncf allowed users to import a train ticket into Apple Wallet, this is obviously no longer the case with SNCF Connect. Hopefully this is an oversight and will be quickly corrected in a future update.
For travelers traveling to Île-de-France, SNCF Connect can be used to top up a Navigo Pass.
All trains and all accessible offers… except for certain subscribers
For the sake of simplification, the SNCF has also chosen to integrate the possibility of buying or subscribing directly from its application to discount cards and subscriptions, also including regional TER offers. These subscriptions can also be directly configured in the application settings so that the associated reductions are automatically applied to the reservation of a ticket.
If the user experience is undoubtedly better with SNCF Connect than with its old gas plant, the SNCF will have to correct certain inconsistencies if it really wants to simplify its customer journey and make SNCF Connect its “Killer App” for transport .
For example, it is possible to subscribe to the Max Actif and Max Actif + offers (formerly My annual telework package and My annual package) from the dedicated section, but their use from SNCF Connect is not supported. It is therefore impossible for users subscribed to a specific route to manage their reservations from this application. They should instead continue to use the online platform that the SNCF put in place a few weeks ago.