Sir – Nigel Clarke’s ‘comparison’ of British and French train services (Letters, January 5) is such that I wonder if he and I have been using the same systems.
Consider the following: 1: The peak-time single fare from Avignon to Paris is not the £43.50 quoted by Mr Clarke but £143.50.
2: The distance is not 426 but 409 miles, making Oxford-Paddington (63½ miles) not one eighth, as he claims but just over one sixth as far.
3: Yes, advance reservation on TGVs is compulsory. This means that you cannot just turn up for a train as you can in Britain, otherwise you may be told it is complet. You then have to wait, often a very long time, for the next one.
4: Mr Clarke’s experience of French Railways’ catering differs widely from mine. On none of the eight TGV journeys I have made was there a trolley service of any kind; even first-class passengers had to traipse to the buffet.
5: On First Great Western InterCity trains, first-class passengers have free refreshments, on Mondays-Fridays served at their seats — invariably service with a smile, despite your correspondent’s insulting and ill-judged use of the word “surly”.
6: When I travelled recently from Perpignan to Paris by TGV my reserved “window” seat was by a section of blank wall. The coach was crowded and claustrophobic and the only way to make the five-hour journey tolerable was to upgrade to first class.
7: Mr Clarke’s view that UK train travel was better in the 1960s and 1970s than now obviously does not take into account shortened journey times and increased frequency — from intervals of one-two hours to half-hourly from Oxford, Bristol and Cardiff to London, for example.
Despite what I have written above, I consider that on purpose-built high-speed lines (which France seems able to build without the palaver we have had over HS2) TGVs provide a valuable service in putting the polluting airlines out of business.
Keith Farr, Cholsey
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