European Railroad Discussion > Parisien weekend

I just arrived back with my partner from a long weekend (Friday to Tuesday) in the City of Light, Paris. We caught Eurostar from London, stayed in a very nice hotel, the Lenox, in Montparnasse. I was intent on taking some pictures of the few remaining loco hauled IC services to and from Austerlitz to Orleans, Limoges, Brive la Gaillarde and Toulouse. Sunday is the best day for these trains, there are almost hourly departures all morning on a Sunday plus a couple of Ouigo Classique low cost services to Nantes and Rennes. But the weather on Sunday wasn't great (it basically rained all day) so I didn't stay out as long as I might have. The SNCF on-line timetable shows the type of power rostered for particular services, including the loco type, which is very helpful.

I also travelled on the Metro and the RER, riding the RER C line out to Savigny sur Orge on the mainline to Orleans. The Ouigo Cassique services use the PO mainline from Austerlitz to just beyond Savigny before heading towards Versailles.

1: IC 3625 10:37 Austerlitz to Brive la Gaillarde behind Sybic BB26308, a 14 car train.
2: Hooray, a nez cassé BB22200 on IC 3628 06:54 from Brive la Gaillarde
3: Ouigo Classique 4080 07:38 Nantes to Austerlitz



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/25 14:44 by 86235.

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4: There was another Ouigo train, 4089 11:55 Paris Austerlitz to Nantes, which was graced by BB22339.
5: After a day's sightseeing on Monday we stopped off at Austerlitz for no.3650 10:27 from Toulouse scheduled to arrive at 17:38. I was pleased to find BB22318 which had arrived on a Ouigo Classique 4082, the 12:48 from Nantes
6: Finally the arrival of 3650, on time at 17:38.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/25 14:45 by 86235.

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Amazing images !

I stayed a few times in Paris across from Gare d' Austerlitz on Boulevard de l' Hopital. There was a decent view of the train activity from the upper floors. I don't know why I never hung around in the terminal to catch a few trains. Nice shot of the 22318.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/25 14:29 by train1275.

Great shots, Nick!  Quite the parade of Nez Casses!

That's amazing:  Austerlitz for Nantes -- and Rennes as well.  Looking at the Ouigoland map on their website, and checking a few sample intermediate destinations, it appears many of the trains do not make the right turn at Savigny Bf, but run via Tours [ SPdC ].  Is this Austerlitz usage to concentrate coach servicing or because it has spare capacity or both ?  I see at least one service uses Nord.

SZ

Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> That's amazing:  Austerlitz for Nantes -- and
> Rennes as well.  Looking at the Ouigoland map on
> their website, and checking a few sample
> intermediate destinations, it appears many of the
> trains do not make the right turn at Savigny Bf,
> but run via Tours [ SPdC ].  Is this Austerlitz
> usage to concentrate coach servicing or because it
> has spare capacity or both ?  I see at least one
> service uses Nord.
>
> SZ

Yes, some Ouigo trains do run via Orleans, they're on the inner pair of tracks through Savigny. The inbound one I photographed is on the Paris-bound outer track having come via Versailles. The Ouigo services into the Gare du Nord are from Brussels and use leased SNCB power, we passed the morning train from Brussels on our Eurostar to London yesterday near Stade de France.

As you can glimpse in the pictures I took at Austerlitz the station is undergoing a transformation. The tracks have been cut back so there's quite a walk to get to the main line from the Metro, new shops and restaurants are planned in a huge new architectural feature resembling a Zeppelin within the train shed.

In its rebuilt state Austerlitz will be used for TGV Sud Est and Sud Ouest services, to relieve both Montparnasse and Gare de Lyon, which are at capacity. Completion supposedly in Spring 2027. You can see the frame of the Zeppelin like structure behind and to the right of BB22318



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/25 00:39 by 86235.

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