Avignon TGV to St Pancras and back in a day

[HelloTango]

I need to make a quick visit to London while on holiday in the South of France. Thought I'd use the following trains;

11th August

06:50 Avignon TGV
10:48 Lille Flanders
(Ouigo)

11:36 Lille Europe
11:57 London St Pancras
(Eurostar)

15:31 London St Pancras
18:50 Paris GdN
(Eurostar)

20:09 Paris GdL
22:46 Avignon TGV
(Ouigo)

I have managed to book this as a single itinerary through SNCF Connect app. I'm confident and quick at making connections so feel that as long as there are no delays I should be fine.

However, the question being - what if the Ouigo is 15 mins late to Lille and I miss the connection to London? Will AJC or some protection cover me for replacement trains? Then I'd be on the 13:36 to London arriving only 1h 30 before the return to Paris.

Or am I being silly and just grab an BA/Easyjet day return from MRS or LYS airports....!???

Kind regards

 

[rvdborgt]

06:50 Avignon TGV
10:48 Lille Flanders
(Ouigo)

11:36 Lille Europe
11:57 London St Pancras
(Eurostar)

[...]
However, the question being - what if the Ouigo is 15 mins late to Lille and I miss the connection to London? Will AJC or some protection cover me for replacement trains? Then I'd be on the 13:36 to London arriving only 1h 30 before the return to Paris.

I doubt Lille is so busy that there wouldn't be time to get to the platform (Business Premier closes 15 minutes before departure). I have no experience with this though.
Interestingly, the transfer from Lille Flandres to Lille Europe Eurostar is in the timetable as taking 40 minutes (e.g. DB show this), although Lille Flandres to Lille Europe is supposed to take 20 minutes. I know the latter barely takes 10, but still it would theoretically only leave 20 minutes for Eurostar check-in.

 

[Mike395]

As far as I understand it, SNCF aren't a signatory to Railteam for OUIGO services (they're a different operating company albeit a fully owned subsidiary), so you'd *technically* have no guarantee of being put on the next Eurostar as there's no AJC/HOTNAT protection. Eurostar will almost certainly rebook you anyway on the outward if you miss the connection regardless, as seems to be their unwritten policy, so the main at-risk connection is crossing Paris on the return. Personally I'd either get a slightly earlier Eurostar from London or have a plan B ready in the (unlikely, but possible) scenario your Eurostar is majorly delayed or cancelled.

Alternatively you may decide it's less hassle to take the train out and fly back, particularly if (as seems likely considering it's a day trip!) you can't bring the return Eurostar forward slightly.

 

[rvdborgt]

Personally I'd either get a slightly earlier Eurostar from London or have a plan B ready in the (unlikely, but possible) scenario your Eurostar is majorly delayed or cancelled.

Paris GdN-GdL normally takes 25 minutes from train to train (assuming you know the way and already have an RER ticket), maybe slightly more when coming from London, but you'd have 45 minutes of buffer against any delays.

 

[Mike395]

Paris GdN-GdL normally takes 25 minutes from train to train (assuming you know the way and already have an RER ticket), maybe slightly more when coming from London, but you'd have 45 minutes of buffer against any delays.

Indeed (and Eurostars tend to not get hugely delayed IME). But if they were unlucky and their train got cancelled, they'd be stuck; not enough buffer to get the next one.

 

[HelloTango]

Ok, thanks. It'll be "fun", a little excitement!

I did see that there is a sleeper train so I could always get that from Paris Austerlitz at 21:22 (although I guess on a summer Sunday the beds will be gone so I'll be in a seat) if I miss the Ouigo at 20:09, or a night in Paris. Let's see if SNCF pull through.

https://www.sncf-voyageurs.com/en/customer-service/faq/connecting-travel/

This suggests that Ouigo is on the AJC...???

"

A missed connection on an international trip?​

The Agreement on Journey Continuation (Agreement on Journey Continuation - AJC for short) is an agreement between 15 European rail operators allowing passengers on international trains to take the next train available at no extra cost in case they have missed their connection.
The 15 operators involved are BLS (Switzerland), CD (Czech Republic), CFL (Luxembourg), DB (Germany), DSB (Denmark), NS (Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria), Renfe (Spain), SJ (Sweden), SBB/CFF/FFS (Switzerland), SNCB (Belgium), SNCF (France) valid on TGV INOUI, OUIGO, INTERCITES and TER offers, SZ (Slovenia), Trenitalia (Italy), ZSSK (Slovakia).

"

 

[30907]

https://www.sncf-voyageurs.com/en/customer-service/faq/connecting-travel/

This suggests that Ouigo is on the AJC...???

That's interesting - and an exception to the general rule that Ouigo is totally separate.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Actually, French Railways are normally pretty good so I would have thought you would be 90-95% likely to make it through with those connections and timings! The weakest bit is probably the London-Paris section, as Eurostar is not as reliable as it used to be, but the ES train could be 45 mins late and still give enough time for the RER connection, if you have a ticket already.

Check-In for Eurostar at Lille seems to close at about 15 minutes ahead of departure, irrrespective of ticket type, and sometimes a little after that as well. They seem to know how many have not checked in and whether they are coming from when delays occur!

 

[peteb]

If you intend to travel on 11th August the SNCF app advises that travel across Paris may be affected by the Olympics and additional travel time should be allowed.

As this date clashes with the closing ceremony, you may find Paris is chaos in the early evening.

If it were me I'd take the train in the morning one way and use EasyJet back to Marseille from London Gatwick mid evening, though this presents logistical difficulties getting back from MRS unless you can get a lift.

Travelling from Aix en Provence TGV at 0627 instead, it may be easier to get back there from MRS.

 

[30907]

If you are able to rebook, there is an 1822 Lille-Avignon which connects comfortably out of the 1504 Eurostar.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I think you would be very lucky if all those timings work. Have you also allowed time to get from St Pancras to where you need to be in London? They now advise you to get to the station 90 minutes before the train leaves so realistically you will only have two hours in London assuming the train is on time.

 

[peteb]

If you are able to rebook, there is an 1822 Lille-Avignon which connects comfortably out of the 1504 Eurostar.

Connecting at Lille would be my choice, rather than Paris. Also the OP should check on any reduced access and additional security measures in place in Paris.