Survival Guide - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 793

Left-Luggage Facilities
Because of security concerns, few French train stations still have consignes automatiques
(left-luggage lockers), but in some larger stations you can leave your bags in a consigne
manuelle (staffed left-luggage facility) - usually in an out-of-the-way corner of the station
- where items are handed over in person and x-rayed before being stowed. Charges are
€5 for up to 10 hours and €8 for 24 hours; payment must be made in cash.
TICKETS & RESERVATIONS
Large stations often have separate ticket windows for international, grandes lignes
(long-haul) and banlieue (suburban) lines, and for people whose train is about to
leave (départ immédiat or départ dans l'heure). Nearly every SNCF station has at
least one borne libre-service (self-service terminal) or billeterie automatique (auto-
matic ticket machine) that accepts both cash and PIN-chip credit cards.
Using a credit card, you can buy a ticket by phone or via the SNCF internet book-
ing site ( www.voyages-sncf.com , in French) and either have it sent to you by post (if
you have an address in France) or collect it from any SNCF ticket office or from
train-station ticket machines.
Before boarding the train, you must validate (composter) your ticket by time-
stamping it in a composteur, one of those yellow posts located on the way to the
platform. If you forget (or don't have a ticket for some other reason), find a conduct-
or on the train before they find you - otherwise you can be fined.
CHANGES & REIMBURSEMENTS
For trains that do not assign reserved seats (eg TER and Corail Intercités trains),
full-fare tickets are useable whenever you like for 61 days from the date they were
purchased.
If you've got a full-fare Loisir Week-End ticket, you can change your reservation
by phone, internet or at train stations for no charge until the day before your depar-
ture; changes made on the day of your reserved trip incur a charge of €10 (€3 for
tickets bought with a discount card).
Pro tickets (eg TGV Pro, Téoz Pro) allow full reimbursement up to 30 minutes
after the time of departure (eg by calling 36 35). If you turn up at your departure
station up to two hours after your original travel time, you can reschedule your trip
on a later train.