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    Paris Montparnasse to Rennes by TGV



    Paris Montparnasse to Rennes by TGV

    Gare Montparnasse is a major terminal station in Paris and it’s also not a nice place to be. A first class seat on a TGV is an absolutely lovely place to spend some time. How can a railway that has pride in its trains have none in its station?

    Well, I know that’s a personal view, but let’s travel from Paris to Rennes to compare something so good with something so bad and ugly.

    Departure: Paris Gare Montparnasse, France
    Destination: Rennes, France
    Distance: 364 km / 226 miles
    Duration: 1 hr 25 mins
    Average speed: 257 km/h 160 mph

    Adult Advance Single
    1st Class: €69,00 / £58.00
    2nd Class: €63,00 / £53.00

    Date of Travel: February 2025
    Operator: SNCF
    Motive power: TGV Ocean/EuroDuplex. Built: Alstom (2004 and 2021)

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    17 Comments

    1. @Fan652w on

      Thank you Johnny for this outstanding 'video of two halves'. Thank you for your highly entertaining tour of the Gare de Montparnasse. Your comments had me in fits of laughter, especially the one about the SNCF officials who instructed the architects to design a station 'With the ambience of a disused multi-storey car park'.

    2. @ampersand. on

      Like Fan652w, I had a chuckle at your comments. What a grotty place! That statue needs a pair of knickers lol But weren`t the huge fluffy clouds at Rennes just glorious … thoughts of candy floss and ice cream there 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

    4. @johncrwarner on

      A friend who was a travel agent said the best thing about
      Tour Montparnasse was going up the tower
      and taking the best shots of the Paris cityscape
      as the Tour Montparnasse isn't in the shot LOL

    6. @robertshaw7523 on

      I have been to that station a couple of times and didn't have such a bad impression (although I didn't explore the place at all). I don't understand the tradition of making people figure out what track to go to (they also do this in Italy). In Switzerland I could tell you what track a train will be on months in advance (unless – and this does happen – there is a delay). Great video as always.

    10. @KyrilPG on

      It might be unpopular, but I like Montparnasse station, especially since the front side overhaul.
      The back side of the station is very 90's, but I think it has a strange charm.
      There's a hidden gem there, it's the garden above the station between the buildings. It's like an oasis, and some of the lanwns have a strange feel when walking on them, it's because they are laid on top of styrofoam blocks.

      As for Rennes, the city has a lovely and extremely efficient metro system that punches high above its weight. The new B line has some great stations, especially the Eastern terminus one that is elevated and has great night lighting for the pilars. There are 2 fully automated lines using very different generations of VAL systems. the original VAL system on line A and the new NeoVAL or CityVAL on line B.
      The metro moves the equivalent of the city's population every day, well over a million per week, with 80 seconds between train departures during rush hours and soon only 66 seconds.

      Spent a few hours there last summer in between trains just to explore the metro. It's a great example of a midsized city with fantastic public transportation.

      Great video!

    11. @stevelknievel4183 on

      I've just looked up that triangular junction at 12:50 to see what used the link from the Rennes direction towards Nantes. As far as I can tell, despite it leading onto a high-speed line, its used by local(ish) trains that run from Rennes to Nantes via Angers.

    12. @horsehollerer on

      I think I owe Brussels-Midi an apology. Can't believe they took the platforms from New York Penn station, shoehorned them underneath a semi-abandoned 1960s shopping mall, flooded the whole thing and called it a major Paris terminal! 🤣 What a lovely seat and a lovely watch, though. FWIW, I'm a huge fan of those InOui bar cars. Cheers!

    13. @Eurobazz on

      What a dreadful station Monsieur Aspirateur. Unlike you and Steve Marsh, I am not a lover of brutalist architecture. Also, it looks like the station was designed by the same architects as CDG airport, another place where it's easy to get lost.

      I thought the fare was a bit in the high side for an 85 minute journey.

    14. @timdiggle5090 on

      Now that really is a first – leaving Paris in rain to find sunshine in Brittany. It is usually the reverse – which explains why Brittany is so green.
      Montparnasse is a regular call for me as I travel often the 4½hours to St Jean de Luz and it is undoubtedly the most unpleasant station I visit. The overcrowding in the hall, the last minute rush to board and the absence of any real waiting areas are bad enough. Even worse the fact that I am usually in one of the front carriages of a 2 unit TGV (back half for Tarbes, front half for Hendaye) and have to pick my way past huge Spanish family groups with piles of luggage saying fond farewells in near-darkness. I thought the 2021 refurbishment would help but it seems only to have created a retail centre! Why could SNCF not have sent someone to Rotterdam to see what can be achieved with concrete architecture?

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