Travel between two of Europe’s most popular cities has never been easier, thanks to a new low-cost train service.
Train operator Ougio will offer daily services between Paris and Brussels, providing a budget-friendly alternative to the Eurostar. However, there’s a catch – it’ll take twice as long.
The service will launch on December 19, operated under the French train company SNCF. Unlike the Eurostar, which takes just one hour and 27 minutes, the Ouigo service will take three hours.
There will be three daily return journeys between Paris Gare du Nord and Bruxelles Midi.
Tickets cost between €10 (£8.30) and €59 (£49) for a single journey for adults, while children’s tickets will be capped at €8 (£6.60).
In contrast, the same journey on the Eurostar can cost up to £100 for a one-way ticket via Trainline.
Ticket reservations can be made up to six months in advance and are already available to book via the SNCF Ouigo website and the Trainline app.
Passengers can book tickets for journeys up to March 31, 2025.
Ougio train times between Paris and Brussels
Trains from Paris will depart at:
- 08:18, arriving at 11:21
- 12:28, arriving at 15:21
- 19:15, arriving at 22:21
Trains from Brussels will depart at:
- 18:38, arriving at 21:35
- 7:38, arriving in Paris at 10:36
- 13:38, arriving at 16:44
SNCF and SNCB, the national railway company of Belgium, highlight that the service is not only more affordable for passengers but also greener, with a significantly lower carbon footprint than travelling by car.
Olivier Piron, director of international partnerships at SNCB, told Le Figaro: ‘The carbon footprint of a passenger on board one of our new trains between Brussels and Paris will be seven times less than that of a passenger making the same journey by road [in a combustion car].’
It comes as Eurostar was ranked the worst-performing rail service in Europe, according to a report from the campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E).
The group ranked 27 operators on factors, including ticket prices, punctuality and willingness to give refunds.
Eurostar received low scores in key factors, such as ticket pricing and reliability, and only performed fairly in areas such as booking experience and compensation.
T&E stated that Eurostar could improve its score with quick changes but acknowledged that this would require support from public authorities, such as the EU and the UK government.
Ouigo, meanwhile, scored higher than Eurostar, but ranked as one of the worst overall services, alongside Hellenic Trains.
However, the report highlighted Ougio offered some of the most affordable fares, alongside Flixtrain and RegioJet.
A Eurostar spokesperson said the operator is ‘surprised’ by the survey results and doesn’t agree with the report’s conclusions.
‘We are confident that if this report were redone again, the scores would be higher,’ a spokesperson said.
Metro has contacted Eurostar for comment.
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