I just spent 60 euros on 2 tickets from Lyon to Dijon on Sunday 7/10. We boarded the train, had a nice trip to Dijon, exited the station, and never once showed our online tickets to anyone. During the process of finding our way to the boarding platform, one of the eurail employees said words to the effect "On Sunday, the trains are free". Did I just waste 60 euros on nothing, or did we somehow fall through a crack and not get caught?
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
You mean SNCF (French railways), not Eurail, right?
Never heard of free trains on Sunday.
Not having your tickets checked is pretty usual, especially on regional routes such as Lyon to Dijon.
Posted by
Green Bay
21142 posts
I think you were the victim of some French sarcasm. You bought 2 tickets from Lyon to Dijon, went from Lyon to Dijon, so you got your money's worth. SNCF is happy, and you should be happy too.
If it was a TER, and you bought tickets out of a vending machine, you would have had to validate them in the platform stamping machine before boarding. The conductor then spot checks people to make sure they validated the tickets along the way as he sees fit. He skipped you, so don't complain.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Eurail is a travel agency and not a train company. Never heard of free trains on any day. There could have been a local promotion or something going on and you might have missed it but that is the breaks for not being a local. But I think you probably just misunderstood the statement. Not getting check is not unheard. It is not super frequent but it can happen and has happened to us a number of times over the years.
Posted by
Freedonia
16274 posts
Last November I took eight trains in France. From TGV to regional. My tickets were checked twice.
No, trains are not free on Sunday. Tickets are not always checked. Eurail is a ticket agency. The employee, who worked for the French trains and not Eurail, was making a joke.