Ouigo TGVs will soon serve central Lyon

From June 1, there will be three return Ouigo TGV journeys from Paris Gare de Lyon, to the central Lyon stations Lyon Part-Dieu and Lyon-Perrache.

Trains from Paris will leave at 6h26, 12h30 and 18h35; and Lyon departures will be at 9h17, 15h35 and 21h21.

Tickets will start from just €16 return, but may rise to as much as €115 depending on demand and date of purchase. They will go on sale from March 10.

Until now, Ouigo TGV services have only taken passengers as far as the Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport, which is 30km from the city centre.

One train does currently go into Lyon-Perrache at the end of the day, but this is more of a “technical train”, said SNCF, which keeps passengers on board beyond Saint-Exupéry, as it is technically en route to the Lyon train shed terminal.

Stéphane Rapebach, Ouigo director at SNCF, said the new daily services were “in response to leisure clientele demand”.

He added: “[This will also allow us to] occupy the area before the probable arrival of competition [from foreign companies, such as] the Italians from Trenitalia, who have, for example, clearly announced that they would like to position themselves in France, especially from Paris to Lyon.”