Hello all, I am a longtime user of Rick Steves' books and forum, but a first-time poster.
I am trying to book a train from Luxembourg to Paris this coming July. There is an SNCF train listed on the Trainline website that is the perfect timing for my itinerary (leaves Luxembourg 1:15 pm, arrives Paris 4:52 pm). I went to the TOC (train operating company) website, as I always prefer to book straight from the source and not use a third party, and the 1:15 pm train does not exist on the SNCF website. The SNCF website only has one train approximately three hours before the time I found on Trainline, and another train approximately three hours after the time I found on Trainline. Neither of these train times are ideal.
Everything I have read online says that Trainline is a reputable company, but I am wary of booking a ticket through a third party for a train that doesn't seem to exist on the TOC website. However, if I can be assured that the 1:15 pm train does exist and my Trainline ticket will be a valid ticket for an actual train, then I would prefer to book the 1:15 pm train.
Can anyone explain why an SNCF train would be listed on Trainline but not on SNCF? Has anyone experienced anything like this who may have some insight? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!