The SNCF wants to put more slow Ouigo trains on the tracks

Slower but also more affordable, the slow OUIGO trains quickly found their audience. Facing the success they are experiencing, SNCF is considering running more on the rails.

A few months after launching its Ouigo Classic Train offer, SNCF reports an initial positive assessment. In six months, its blue and pink Corail trains have welcomed around 900,000 passengers, reports Le Parisien. SNCF executives now hope to reach the symbolic threshold of one million travelers before the end of the year.

These good figures encourage SNCF to go further. Bordeaux, Marseille, Lille, Rennes, or even Brussels could become part of the new cities served by “slow” Ouigo trains, although nothing is official at this time. As it stands, these trains stop in 14 cities spread along the Nantes-Paris-Nantes and Lyon-Paris-Lyon lines.

The deployment of the Classic Ouigo offer can only happen if regions part with their old trains. Modernizing the fleet is certainly on the agenda in some of them, but deliveries have been delayed, preventing SNCF from quickly expanding its service.

“Slow” Ouigo trains highly popular among young people

Also called Slow Ouigo trains, the Classic Ouigo is made up of refurbished former Corail trains painted in pink. In a context of high inflation, their particularly affordable prices (between €5 and €30) are hitting the mark, especially among young people who reportedly account for more than a third of customers.

The flip side of these attractive fares is longer travel times compared to a TGV. However, the journey time remains comparable to that of someone using their car. And that car, with fuel and tolls, will ultimately cost much more. According to Le Parisien, an internal customer study showed that one in two French people has abandoned their car for a Classic Ouigo train in the past 6 months.

Read also: 7 hours to Paris-Berlin by TGV: SNCF aims for 2023