The SNCF extends from this Monday a Ouigo Paris-Montpellier to Perpignan. This is a new stage in the policy of extending its low-cost TGV, announced in September 2022. This daily round trip will connect the Gare de Lyon in Paris, to the station dear to Dali, in Perpignan. Travel time will be 5:01 a.m. outward and 5:18 a.m. return, via Valence TGV, Nîmes-Pont du Gard, Montpellier Sud de France, Sète, Agde, Béziers and Narbonne. SNCF Voyageurs sells tickets from 19 euros.
Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, qualifies the low-cost TGV Ouigo as a “success”, with more than 110 million journeys in ten years. “Regularly, we add destinations. (…) Our objective is that, in 2025, 25% of our high-speed traffic in France will be carried out by Ouigo, against 20% currently”.
Between Montpellier and Perpignan, a classic speed until 2034
TGVs will run at the same speed as intercity trains between Montpellier and Perpignan. On this section of line, the conventional rails do not allow TGVs to travel at high speed. The first section of high-speed line between Montpellier and Béziers was declared of public utility by a decree dated February 16, 2023. Work should start between 2028 and 2030 for commissioning around 2034. For phase 2, between Béziers and Perpignan, it will be necessary to wait at least 2040.