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Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
Had an interesting experience in trying to get to San Sebastian from
Biarritz. Using Renfe's and SNCF's website I ascertained that I could take a train from Biarritz at 10.27am (where I was staying) to Irun (the first station in Spain) - a Corail Lunea train from the South of France as it transpired with 'reclined' 2nd class seats that were a tad uncomfortable to travel during the day in - reaching Irun at 10.57am, leaving me about 15 minutes to take a local Cercanias train from Irun to San Sebastian reaching there about 11.30am, as the Renfe station is a good deal closer to the centre and the beach.The best laid plans of mice and men.... When I reached Biarritz, I had to queue for a fair bit - the all singing, all dancing SNCF ticket machines wouldn't sell me a ticket to Irun, never mind San Sebastian. I had assumed that, as the train I was catching was heading for Irun from Biarritz, I could perhaps buy a ticket for there ? (SNCF's website at www.voyages-sncf.com had told me I could indeed for €5.20, €0.40 more than the €4.80 single it charged from Biarritz to Hendaye, the last station in France). Indeed, when the train arrived, it had "IRUN" written on the side of the train in big letters on the destination boards. I thought I'd chance my arm with "2 return tickets to San Sebastian please ?" assuming there would be through ticketting for 2 neighbouring countries ? Apparently not. "You need to take a train to Hendaye and El Topo (the narrow guage Euskotren from Hendaye to San Sebastian) from there to Amara". OK, I though, "2 return (or single) tickets to Irun, please ?" (figuring 15 minutes would be time enough to buy tickets at an unlikely to be busy Irun Station. "No, Sir, there are no trains from here to Irun", the ticket seller, said, meeting my incredulity. "Well, perhaps, one a day in the summer" I pulled my Thomas Cook out and showed the cornucopia of trains headed from Biarritz to Irun, probably 7 or 8 a day, as well as the noticeboard at the station that showed copious trains to Irun. "Well, that might be true, but I still can't sell you a ticket for this train, I can only sell you a ticket to here to Hendaye - perhaps you can buy a ticket at Hendaye for Irun". Not in 4 minutes (the wait at the station) I couldn't. I suppose I could have jumped the fare to Irun, and protested that SNCF wouldn't sell me a ticket there, but I chickened out and changed at Hendaye and took the Euskotren from there to Amara and walked into San Sebastian. Very nice place with a fantastic old town and a lovely beach, if anyone is tempted....On the way back, the timings on trains from Hendaye to Biarritz were so shonky - a 4 hour gap after 18.57 until the next train, and the Euskotren arrived 2 minutes before the Hendaye - Biarritz train departed - that I caught a coach from Hendaye to Biarritz, that had the added advantage of dropping me in the centre of the town, and not the station, 3km up a steep hill. Anyone any ideas why this ridiculous state of affairs exists ? It's already daft that Renfe can operate from Spain to Hendaye (but not FROM Hendaye to Spain), and SNCF can operate to Irun but not FROM Irun to France. |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
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Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
SNCF obviously don't have any international fares programmed into
their ticket machines at Biarritz. That doesn't excuse the sloppy station staff though. Did you get a classic Gallic shrug as well? How did you guess ? The northbound broad gauge track extends into Hendaye station and gives onward standard gauge connections into FRance. The southbound standard gauge track extends into Irun station and gives onward broad gauge connections into Spain. Presumably no-one sees the need to run trains in the other direction? It's the same at Cebere and Portbou. All I can imagine is that there is an agreement between Renfe and SNCF not to do so. I was on the very first service TGV from Paris to Irun. I well recall having my bags searched by a Spanish Customs official, who absolutely stank of alcohol I had a similar experience on the Hungarian/Serbian border, with the added attraction that I had to convince 'Mihailj' to complete a currency 'deklaratsia'. I filled it in and he signed it ! |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:10:09 +0100, Mike Roebuck
wrote: I was on the very first service TGV from Paris to Irun. I well recall having my bags searched by a Spanish Customs official, who absolutely stank of alcohol, when I passed through the control at Irun to get the narrow gauge train back to Hendaye, after arrival. I won't name the train, but I did encounter a DB guard at the weekend who one could only assume had spent the day at the Oktoberfest then gone into work for his evening shift... Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
Anyone any ideas why this ridiculous state of affairs exists ? It's
already daft that Renfe can operate from Spain to Hendaye (but not FROM Hendaye to Spain), and SNCF can operate to Irun but not FROM Irun to France. It is an international agreement from an ancient age for every Spanisch/French border, that each national railway can run its trains to the other side with passengers, but have to return empty. The return journey has to be made with the other railway. This way each railway has only to issue "national" tickets for local travel. And are completely independ for timetabling. It also simplifies the customs checking. And the train employees could rest in there own nation. At the time these where very important issues and the border crossing was a serious matter with little trafic. Now it is a very stupid way to run things, certainly when the trains are not frequent. Greetings, MARC |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
On Sep 25, 10:56 pm, "M.G.Schram" wrote:
Anyone any ideas why this ridiculous state of affairs exists ? It's already daft that Renfe can operate from Spain to Hendaye (but not FROM Hendaye to Spain), and SNCF can operate to Irun but not FROM Irun to France. It is an international agreement from an ancient age for every Spanisch/French border, that each national railway can run its trains to the other side with passengers, but have to return empty. The return journey has to be made with the other railway. This way each railway has only to issue "national" tickets for local travel. And are completely independ for timetabling. It also simplifies the customs checking. And the train employees could rest in there own nation. At the time these where very important issues and the border crossing was a serious matter with little trafic. Now it is a very stupid way to run things, certainly when the trains are not frequent. Greetings, MARC A couple of years back I caught a train from Vigo in Spain to Poro in Portugal. The ticket office in Vigo actually sold me two tickets - one from Vigo to the border and another from the border to Porto. In Spain a Spanish conductor clipped my ticket and over the border the train changed conductors and a Portuguese conductor clipped the other ticket. On the way back, the person at the ticket office in Porto told me that he couldn't sell me a ticket all the way to Vigo, but only to the border. I would then have to buy a ticket from the border to Vigo on the train once the Spanish conductor got on. Curiously, the combination of the two tickets this way cost a different amount than they had in the opposite direction. It seemed absurd though. One currency, no border checks, and a single train, but two tickets and two conductors. |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
On 26 Sep 2007 13:31:14 GMT, (Rian van der Borgt)
wrote: On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:09:29 -0000, wrote: A couple of years back I caught a train from Vigo in Spain to Poro in Portugal. The ticket office in Vigo actually sold me two tickets - one from Vigo to the border and another from the border to Porto. This is normal - although these two are usually united on one piece of paper. Are Spain and Portugal not in the TCV? Neil -- Neil Williams Put my first name before the at to reply. |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:11:07 GMT, Neil Williams wrote:
On 26 Sep 2007 13:31:14 GMT, (Rian van der Borgt) wrote: On Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:09:29 -0000, wrote: A couple of years back I caught a train from Vigo in Spain to Poro in Portugal. The ticket office in Vigo actually sold me two tickets - one from Vigo to the border and another from the border to Porto. This is normal - although these two are usually united on one piece of paper. Are Spain and Portugal not in the TCV? Hm, well, now that you emntion it: Portugal is, Spain isn't anymore. But still, if the border still means a change of operator, then you have two sections for your ticket. Regards, Rian -- Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium. e-mail: www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/ |
Tickets to San Sebastian via Hendaye and Irun
A couple of years back I caught a train from Vigo in Spain to Poro in Portugal. The ticket office in Vigo actually sold me two tickets - one from Vigo to the border and another from the border to Porto. In Spain a Spanish conductor clipped my ticket and over the border the train changed conductors and a Portuguese conductor clipped the other ticket.
I had a very similar experience in the opposite direction. I wanted to travel from Pontevedra in Spain to Porto in 2005. Once again, they couldn't sell me a ticket, and sold me a ticket to Valenca Do Minho/ Tuy (the fare was the same) and another ticket from Valenca Do Minho to Porto. Finding out the latter took forever at 7am, and we were not the most popular passengers in Galicia that morning. It actually worked out cheaper than the theoretical "through" fare. As an aside, we had our passports checked on the train, which was something of a surprise, as both countries are in Schengen. More surprising given that a couple of days previously we'd visited Tuy and Valenca and there was nary an immigration officer to be seen. |
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