why is it difficult to reach ski resorts by train?

The president of France Montagnes believes that the railway company does not offer enough direct connections to mountain resorts.

While the SNCF opens its ticket office this Wednesday for the winter holidays (January 9 to March 30, 2025), the mountain sector is taking the opportunity to sharply criticize a rail offer that it considers insufficient.

“What are we waiting for to put pressure on a mobility organization in France which is the king of immobility, the SNCF”, asserts Jean-Luc Boch, president of France Montagnes and the ANMSM, the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts, cited by L'Echo Touristique.

“What are we waiting for? Unfortunately the SNCF doesn’t listen,” he continues. And to explain that a large majority of French tourists (who constitute the majority of resort customers) use the car, a much more polluting means of transport than the train. Not ideal for reducing the weight of the carbon footprint of transport to the stations.

Last year, he made the same speech: “The French have almost no choice but to take the car: the lack of trains to reach the stations is glaring.”

89% of vacationers take the car to reach the resorts

The numbers prove him right. 89% of French people who go skiing use their car to get to the mountains in winter.

It must be said that of the 158 ski resorts in the French Alps, less than ten are accessible directly by train. For others, you often have to change trains and finish your journey by bus.

In fact, the rail offer to ski resorts seems undersized despite a growing appetite for the train and certain dedicated initiatives.

We can first mention the Travelski Express offer co-produced with the French Travelski (Compagnie des Alpes Group). The tour operator first targeted the British with direct connections to the Alps by chartering Eurostar trains.

It then joined forces with SNCF Voyageurs in 2022. The idea: to offer a “door to door” and direct offer between Paris and five stations in the Alps which serve 21 TGV stations in Tarentaise and Maurienne, as well as transfer packs, accommodation and packages. With British tourists, a total of 18,000 seats were offered.

Disappearance of “Travelski Express”

“We are very proud to be able to deploy the Travelski Express offer in France from Gare de Lyon, it is a real novelty on the market and a new approach to ski holidays, more serene and responsible,” explained Guillaume de Marcillace at the time. , general manager.

But paradoxically, the traffic is not there and the partnership is not renewed.

“The level of reservations was very low, with trains not very full. SNCF Voyageurs therefore did not wish to renew the contract,” a spokesperson for the operator explains to BFM Business.

“However, an alternative has been put forward by SNCF Voyageurs. Travelski being a travel agency, it can book for large groups on commercial trains. Group sales are always open before sales for individual customers,” continues the spokesperson.

At the same time, with a limited TGV fleet, the SNCF is less inclined to offer its trains to third parties.

A limited TGV fleet

“Winter is indeed a period which is particularly in demand by travelers and we need to mobilize our fleet to meet the demand of our customers. Thus, we provide the maximum number of available trains using the entire capacity of the line”, confirms the company.

Trains which nevertheless fill up very (too) quickly, and at the last minute, tourists often no longer find seats and therefore turn back to the car.

The fact remains that the company rejects the criticisms of the president of France Montagnes and highlights its TGV offer adapted for the season.

“The TGV Inoui offer between Paris and Bourg Saint-Maurice is a seasonal offer reinforced in winter to ensure service to ski resorts, in particular on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and during the five February/March holiday weekends “, we specify.

And to add that “the TGV offer from Paris to Maurienne will be reinforced, like every year, particularly on weekends”.

As for the Ouigo Grande Vitesse line to Bourg Saint-Maurice, it “returns for a new winter season with a daily round trip, from December 19, 2024 to March 30, 2025”.

For foreign tourists, SNCF Voyageurs reminds that the seasonal “Eurostar Snow” offer from London, Amsterdam and Brussels to winter sports resorts has been reactivated.

Finally, remember that Trenitalia offers a winter connection to Chambéry and a new stop at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne as an extension of its rail line between Paris and Lyon.

The fact remains that only 8% of people questioned by ANMSM plan to opt for another mode of transport to get to the resort. But if the train offer was better adapted (direct connections, more frequencies), 51% would change their habits. Proof that the offer is not ideal.