If you are planning to travel between these two major cities this weekend of November 11, you will have to be patient!
The public holiday of Monday November 11 is approaching, the opportunity to go on a long weekend to treat yourself to a getaway probably towards the south-east of France, just to take advantage of the last rays of sunshine still existing in France . However, bad news awaits travelers who plan to take this TGV line towards the sun, the busiest in France, which sees a third of rail traffic.
For 4 days, from this Saturday, November 9 until Tuesday, November 12, 2024, a period which falls right during this Armistice weekend of November 11, it will be impossible to take the LGV from Paris to Lyon, and vice versa. In fact, SNCF will carry out major signaling modernization work on this high-speed line.
Only the classic Paris-Lyon-Marseille line passing through Valence-Ville station is maintained, which will double the travel time to reach these two large cities. It will therefore take you 4h30 to complete the Paris-Lyon journey instead of 1h45 normally. As for those who extend the journey to Marseille, the journey will last 7h20 compared to 3 hours normally…
If certain stations will not even be served during the period, namely Le Creusot TGV, Mâcon Loché TGV, Lyon Saint-Exupéry TGV, Marne-la-Vallée Chessy, Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV and Valence TGV Rhône-Alpes Sud, the number of trains in circulation on the classic Paris-Lyon line is also reduced to 70% during this long weekend of November 11.
What alternative for those who chose to travel this weekend, but who were unable to find SNCF tickets? The Trenitalia company, a rival to SNCF, offers five daily round trips on the Paris-Lyon connection with its Frecciarossa trains. Count between 35 and 115 euros for a return trip depending on the day and time. As for those who do not wish to undergo this drastic increase in travel time, the quickest solution is to take the plane, with the Air France company which has reinforced its lines, but it remains no less expensive. .