Marseille Travel Pass

[alex17595]

HI guys, I'm planning a provisional trip to Marseille for a few days in June and I'm having trouble finding out the cost of a 72 hour travelpass (Not the City Pass). The plan is to Fly to Marseille and get the train back to the UK. The problem I have come across is that I'm struggling to find the actual prices.

This website says that the cost is €10.50 (Is it valid on the TER?)

Or this websitewhich is interestingly the same website but with completely different prices €31 (Is this valid on the TER?)

Also does it goes as far out as the airport and LaPenne-sur-Huveaune TER station.

Any help would be appreciated - Cheers.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The 72h €10.50 / €31 tickets aren't valid on the TER.

The 24h €20 ticket is valid on the TER in the Bouches-du-Rhone Department which includes Vitrolles (for the Airport) and La Penne-sur-Huveaune. There is a free shuttle bus from the Airport Terminal to Vitrolles Station. It depends on how many TER trips you want to make - it may be better buying single tickets. Have a good trip!

 

[alex17595]

Thanks, I might not bother with the TER then (apart from the airport into the centre) and just take the bus to the hotel.
Might be easier to get a hotel slightly closer to town. (9 pound)

 

[Gordon]

Some of the web sites are poor.

I cannot see a simple guide to what you can travel on with which ticket.

However it is clear that some of the links are out of date. The rover tick mentioned n some of the english web pages is no longer issued.

I can find no mention of any of the replacement tickets being valid on rail services.

 

[D6700]

I believe there was a temporary rover ticket in the Marseille area last year during the "Marseille-Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture". Maybe this is part of the reason for the confusion/dead web-links?

 

[theageofthetra]

I agree with the above, they had special fares between Aix & Marseille for the city of culture year.

 

[alex17595]

Thanks guys, I will have to see what happens when I get there. If it comes to the worst I will just buy a day pass for the one full day that I'm there and buy singles for the 1 hour of travel.

On an unrelated note, does anyone know if you get a reserved seat on Ouigo services or is it a free-for-all? (I really want a window seat).

Edit: The number 50 bus runs from just around the corner from my hotel, running every 10-20 mins taking about 20 minutes to the Castelline metro station.
It runs down the motorway as well!

 

[Gordon]

On an unrelated note, does anyone know if you get a reserved seat on Ouigo services or is it a free-for-all? (I really want a window seat).

you pay extra to reserve a relevant seat if you want a power plug. I don't know if any of these are window seats


as far as the travelling goes, it sounds like you might be doing too little 'roving' to justify rover tickets outside the main Marseille area, for which you can get an RTM pass. But to clarify that you can get the new passes for all the bus routes but not for SNCF trains (if I read the confusing information sources correctly)



.

 

[alex17595]

The local trains seem to far apart and too infrequent to be worth using, a the map showing the bus routes/metro is extremely helpful.
So I will probably stick to the Transport pass.

 

[CC 72100]

you pay extra to reserve a relevant seat if you want a power plug. I don't know if any of these are window seats

.

Seating on the Ouigo is 3+1 - which is a little strange in terms of layout. I believed all seats are reserved on the tickets, given that there is no 'turn up and go' - it's like a train of Advances only.

Of course, bear in mind that you need to be at the station 30 minutes before departure, and that luggage is limited.

 

[alex17595]

Seating on the Ouigo is 3+1 - which is a little strange in terms of layout. I believed all seats are reserved on the tickets, given that there is no 'turn up and go' - it's like a train of Advances only.

Of course, bear in mind that you need to be at the station 30 minutes before departure, and that luggage is limited.

The luggage shouldn't be a problem, I'm travelling Ryan Air down there so if I make it without problems the return should be fine.

Do you know if there is a way to maximise my chance of a window seat?
I wouldn't mind paying a little extra.

 

[CC 72100]

The luggage shouldn't be a problem, I'm travelling Ryan Air down there so if I make it without problems the return should be fine.

Do you know if there is a way to maximise my chance of a window seat?
I wouldn't mind paying a little extra.

I don't know to be honest. I'll admit to having never used the service - but I know that the seating arrangement raised a few eyebrows when it was first released. I think the only choice when reserving seats is a power point at 2 euros - apart from that, nothing is mentioned and all is automatically assigned I presume. I've never used the service - have only considered it, although in the end the trek to Marne la Valée (to Vincennes, then back out) to wait for half an hour before the train arrived put me off, especially when I found out that I could enjoy a ride behind a loud class 72100 for the same price!

 

[alex17595]

I might try getting a power socket (its always useful)
Interestingly it seems that they are 10 mins or so faster than the usual TGV service.

Specific seat reservations are only allocated the day before travel to give Ouigo more flexibility. "We use an algorithm to place people in the train at the best location depending on whether they have baggage or not, to optimise passenger comfort, and to have rapid boarding and alighting at stations

I wonder if having no luggage will put me in the middle of a triple seat

 

[CC 72100]

I might try getting a power socket (its always useful)
Interestingly it seems that they are 10 mins or so faster than the usual TGV service.

That doesn't surprise me. It's not speed that you 'lose' when taking the Ouigo - more so the flexibility. Having to go to Marne la Valée instead of Paris stations to catch the train, no catering on-board, having to be there 30 minutes before departure.... that's how they cut costs and make it cheaper. At the end of the day, it's a TGV set, so if they wanted it to be slower, they'd just use a Corail set in an equally garish livery and with a BB22000 at the end in the first place.

 

[Gordon]

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Still can't see the point of Ouigo. More disadvantages than advantages IMHO. I've always got what I consider reasonable fares on normal TGV routes if booked far enough in advance.

If travelling from anywhere not close to Marne La Vallee, you've lost 1 hour before even setting off! You can be a third of the way to Dijon on a traditional corail from Bercy in that time, let alone how far you could be south from Paris on a TGV.




.

 

[alex17595]

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Still can't see the point of Ouigo. More disadvantages than advantages IMHO. I've always got what I consider reasonable fares on normal TGV routes if booked far enough in advance.

If travelling from anywhere not close to Marne La Vallee, you've lost 1 hour before even setting off! You can be a third of the way to Dijon on a traditional corail from Bercy in that time, let alone how far you could be south from Paris on a TGV.
.

I have plenty of time, but not as much money.
I'm only taking the train northbound and it allows about 3hrs from Marne La Valee to Paris for the connecting Eurostar. If you were doing a return journey it is probably worth paying for a normal TGV.

 

[IKBrunel]

Some amazing walks east along Les Calanques (limestone gorges long the coastline) to Cassis, you can get a bus to outskirts of Marseille to start the walk.