France-Spain TGV restarts as Eurostar increases services
Train travel between France and Spain restarted yesterday (July 1), as Eurostar announced plans to resume direct journeys from London to Disneyland Paris theme park.
Return train journeys between Paris (Ile-de-France) and Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) to Barcelona resumed yesterday (June 1) - ten days after Spain reopened borders with France following Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The high-speed TGV trains are currently scheduled to run once a day from each of the cities.
Read more: Masks mandatory on trains in France post-confinement
Read more: SNCF opens bookings for summer train travel in France
More journeys to be added
It takes around six hours and 40 minutes to travel from the French capital to Barcelona on the high-speed TGV train.
Trains leaving Paris at 10:14 am, will stop at Valence TGV, Nîmes, Montpellier Saint-Roch, Sète, Agde, Béziers, Narbonne, Perpignan, Figueras Vilafant and Gérone. Journeys from Barcelona to Paris depart at 10h10.
Trains from Marseille will leave at 8h02 and arrive in Barcelona four hours, 30 minutes later. Going in the opposite direction trains from Barcelona to Marseille are scheduled to leave at 16h36, daily.
French train provider SNCF and Spanish train provider Renfe said more trains will be added gradually, in line with “evolving demand”.
TGV trains between France and Spain can currently be booked up to November 1. All journeys booked via SNFC travelling before August 31 are fully refundable.
Eurostar increasing service
Meanwhile, Eurostar has announced plans to increase summer train services from the UK to France.
Eurostar is currently running a reduced service of two or three return journeys per day between Paris, London and Brussels.
But, from August 2, passengers will be able to travel from the UK directly to Marne-la-Vallée (Ile-de-France), on the doorstep of the Disneyland Paris theme park.
Disneyland Paris has announced it will begin a “phased” reopening from July 15.
The UK is in the process of rethinking its Covid-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.
The government had plans to establish “air bridges” with a number of countries that would allow non-essential travel without quarantine, for holidays, for example. France was expected to be one of the countries included on the list.
Read more: When will a UK-France air bridge be announced?
Read more: UK review on relaxing quarantine being held today
Safety measures in place
Onboard SNCF and Eurostar trains, masks must currently be worn throughout the journey and restaurant cars are not serving food or drinks.
Other international train routes opening slowly
Thello - part of Italian company Trenitalia - has been running its line between Nice (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) and Milan since June 4, but will not begin running night trains between Paris and Venice until August 1.
Thalys, which runs trains between France and Germany, Belgium and Holland, is running 50% of its trains this summer.
Trains between France and Switzerland, run by TGV Lyria, are also on a reduced schedule.
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Eurostar to provide contactless travel from UK to France
Better south of France TGV links move closer
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Eurotunnel UK-France travel: What you need to know
