Paid baggage is not the preserve of the airline industry. With Ouigo, SNCF has modeled the low-cost transport model on rail. Since the arrival of these blue and pink low-cost TGVs in 2013, the company has introduced strict rules on baggage, using the codes in force among air carriers. Prices and rotations pushed to the maximum to improve profitability. But paid options, too.
Thus, a ticket only includes one cabin baggage (55 x 35 x 25 cm) with no weight limit and one hand baggage (36 x 27 x 15 cm). As in the air, if you wish to take a so-called XL suitcase (maximum 1.30 m and 30 kg), you must pay 5 euros per bag and per journey at the time of booking, and 20 euros if you have not subscribed no option and a controller judges your luggage to be too bulky or too numerous when you arrive at the platform. If that’s not enough, you can subscribe to the Ouigo Plus pack when booking, at 9 euros, where luggage is included, as is the choice of seat and access to Wi-Fi on board, when it works. Otherwise, these last two options taken separately cost respectively 3 or 7 euros (depending on the place chosen) and 3 euros per traveler to surf the Internet in complete peace of mind.
So many services included in the ticket, considered expensive by the French, for a TGV inOui, the premium offer from the SNCF. There, like Air France in the air, travelers can travel with large luggage without having to pay for an option. For the moment.
In mid-February, the railway company specified the maximum number of bags allowed and their dimensions. Customers can take two. A first bulky one up to 70 x 90 x 50 cm (suitcase, large backpack, hiking bag, sports bag) and a second measuring 40 x 30 x 15 cm maximum (backpack, shopping bag, computer bag ). User associations fear that this new regulation is only a first step towards the appearance of paid options. For its part, the SNCF refutes any such project.