French railways assessed

Yesterday I made a short journey from Nice to Cannes on French railways known as SNCF.

It was not a customer friendly experience. So much so that I found myself praising Southern Fail.

I arrived at Nice station in good time and my intention was to buy a ticket over the counter as I believed I was entitled to senior reduction. The ticket office did not open till 12-45 pm and I was obliged to use a automatic ticket machine.

I duly did so only to buy a bus ticket.

Each SNCF machine had large queues largely because the passengers could not work out how to operate the system which was only in French. My French was good enough but I was obliged to provide my email address and was unfamiliar with the logo for @. Eventually I was successful.

The signage was poor.

There was a sign for a platform A but that did not clarify whether the Marseilles train was direct or stopped at Cannes.

There was no station staff to ask.

A kindly passenger did confirm that the train stopped at Cannes.

It was more comfortable than Southern Fail but at least they have comprehensive platform signage and there is always someone to ask.

The cost of a return ticket was €15 but this was for the slower regional network, not The TGV high speed train that you need to book on line.

How the passenger who understands little French is expected to cope with all of this I know not. Your ticket is emailed to you but arrived after the train.

On the return journey I decided to pay extra (€9) to take the TGV but you have a reserved seat where you have to sit.

I did not do so as it was only one stop.

I reached Nice station with a triumphant air but wondered if next time a taxi for €80 each way was the better option.