Userpic

benymartin
Traveller
20 comments

Posted 10 years ago

Hi,
one another question please :)

I would like to get on the afternoon of July 6 (Sunday) from Bruxelles to Caen.

I found this connection but I am a little bit afraid of changes in every town, how is it with train's delays in France, do they wait for each other?

02:05 PM BRUXELLES-MIDI (Belgium) IC 535

02:35 PM GAND-SAINT-PIERRE (Belgium)
11 min. transfer time
02:46 PM IC 713

03:50 PM LILLE FLANDRES (France)
12 min. transfer time
04:02 PM TER43912

05:21 PM AMIENS (France)
6 min. transfer time
05:27 PM TER48963

06:46 PM ROUEN RIVE DROITE (France)
16 min. transfer time
07:02 PM TER52046, TER52047

08:37 PM CAEN (France)

Any help please? If this is problematic, I could use a connection via Paris. Or it is possible to shift whole trip one day ahead, so this connection could be used on July 7 (Monday).

Thanks in advance!

Follow this topic
Userpic

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 10 years ago

Hi.
You can never preview if a train is in delay or not. But usually it should be fine. :)
On Monday the 07-07-2014 you have this connection with only little different timings in Belgium:

Bruxelles-Midi dep 14:07 - IC - free with Interrail
Tournai arr 15:06

Tournai dep 15:16 - IC free with Interrail
Lille Flandres arr 15:51

Lille Flandres dep 16:02 - Regional train - free with Interrail
Amiens arr 17:21

Amiens dep 17:27 - Regional train - free with Interrail
Rouen-Rive-Droite arr 18:46

Rouen-Rive-Droite dep 19:02 - Regional train - free with Interrail
Caen arr 20:37

Peter :)

P.S.: for future readers - standard point to point tickets are available from [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf[/ux] or [ux]https://rail.shop/beurope[/ux]

Userpic

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 10 years ago

The connection in Lille is problematic as the trains from Belgium are likely to be delayed as much as 10-15 minutes. I would think about getting an earlier connection where you have more time in Lille (you can then also have a quick walk around the city centre which is just 5 minutes away). :)
You can check timings for each train in France on infolignes.com to get an impression of delays on that particular connection.

Userpic

benymartin
Traveller
20 comments

replied 10 years ago

Ok, I will use earlier train from Brussel.

Hopefully, the trains in France will wait for each other, in the worst case I would use a connection via Paris and get to Cean in the night..

In the Czech Republic, if you miss the last connection that day, the railway company provides you a taxi drive :)

Thank you! :)

Userpic

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 10 years ago

The train companies all around Europe have to provide for passengers who end up stranded late in the evening. :)

I travelled with a Rouen - Amiens train from Abancourt to Amiens a few weeks ago and it was perfectly on time; however as Peter said you can never predict that for sure...

Userpic

nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments

replied 10 years ago

the main risk in FR is actually all those many and often unannounced STRIKES. Besides that, delays are not very common, but cancellation of trains due to whatever reason is also fairly frequent in some areas. Noter that for IR there are less compensations as for normal full-fare in case of delays due to railways own fault.

Userpic

benymartin
Traveller
20 comments

replied 10 years ago

All right, it seems funny if we miss the train in some unknown town :D Hopefully I will find sooner travel times or back-up plan :) Thank you for your replies.

Userpic

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 10 years ago

Lille has a beautiful old town; Amiens the biggest cathedral of France; on the way from Amiens to Caen you could make a detour to the highest chalk cliffs of Europe at Le Treport...Rouen also has a nice cathedral...there's plenty to see! :D