How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from London to Geneve

At St Pancras:

Eurostar is currently suggesting that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area in St Pancras International 90 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.

The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.

Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Departing from the Gare De Lyon

The Eurostar will arrive in Paris at the Gare Du Nord, but the train on to Geneve will depart from the Gare De Lyon.

This guide explains how to make the transfer between the two stations by RER train.
What's good to know is that the journey from stepping off the Eurostar to being on the concourse at Gare De Lyon will typically take 25-30min - depending on how long you will have to wait for an RER train.

Though the end-to-end journey options, with a total end-to-end travel time of a little under 8hrs, will allow around 2hr 30mins between arrival at the Gare Du Nord and the departure on from the Gare De Lyon.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
This booking period tends to be shorter when looking up journeys between mid August and mid October.

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

When looking up this journey on Trainline, select Genève Cornavin as the destination.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for both trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare De Lyon.

Eurostar train's general ticket terms:

'Customers can exchange tickets for travel in Standard and Standard Premier class multiple times without paying an exchange fee, as long as tickets are exchanged 7 days or more before the departure time of their individual journey
Though if the new ticket option is more expensive the difference in price will need to be paid, but if it is cheaper the price difference won't be refunded.
But make the exchange within 7 days of the individual journey and an admin fee of £30 will need to be paid, along with the price difference
Tickets to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class are not refundable.
In contrast tickets to travel in Business Premier Class can be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference'.
Eurostar's full ticket terms and conditions are here .

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Eurostar Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
'However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier (such as the Lyria train on from Paris) including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

But SNCF /SBB, which operates the train on to Geneve, have both signed up to Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) policy for when a traveller holds separate transport 'contracts' for an end-to-end journey involving more than one train.
So this agreement applies both when 'a bundle' of tickets / contracts is issued as the result of a single transaction - and if travellers have bought several different tickets for their journey, even from different sales channels/ticket providers.
As long as the passenger had planned enough connecting time to change trains (called “reasonable connecting time”), the AJC will apply.

So in usual* circumstances, if a delay to a Eurostar has caused a booked connection on to Geneve to be missed, replacement tickets/reservations should be issued at the Gare De Lyon.
*= But that new E.U legislation specifically states that in exceptional circumstances, the train operators do not need to issue replacement tickets - and the terms and conditions on the SNCF Connect website reiterate this.
These exceptional circumstances specifically stated in Regulation (EU) 2021/782 of the European Parliament include:

• extraordinary circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway, such as extreme weather conditions, major natural disasters or major public health crises...
• ...the behaviour of a third party... such as persons on the track, cable theft, on-board emergencies, law enforcement activities or sabotage.

Using Rail Passes on Eurostar:

Avoid this combination of trains if you will be travelling with a Eurail or InterRail pass, the rail pass reservation fees to travel by the Lyria trains are comparatively expensive.
So it is to cheaper to take a TGV on from Lille and Paris to Lyon and make the connection there for a TER train on to Geneve.

If you want to make a London to Geneva train journey and avoid travelling via Paris then an option is to make comparatively straightforward connections between trains in both Lille and Lyon
The positive of taking this combination of trains is the avoidance of having to make the transfer across Paris from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon.

At St Pancras:

This route is typically available by taking the Eurostar which usually departs from London at 11:04.

Eurostar is currently suggesting that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area in St Pancras International 90 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.

The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.

Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

At Lille-Europe:

This guide explains how to make the connection in Lille-Europe station.

The time between arrival and departure in Lille will be around 35mins when departing London on the train which typically leaves at 11:04.
Though in the unlikely event of a Eurostar being more than 30 mins late, there will be the subsequent option of making the connections that are available when departing London shortly after 13:00.
If you opt to depart London by this train, the time between arrival and departure will be around 1hr 40mins.

At Lyon-Part Dieu:

The connecting time between trains in Lyon will be under 40mins, but when leaving London at around 11:00, if a delay to the TGV from Lille causes the connection to be missed, you can hop on a subsequent TER train.
Reservations aren't available on the TER trains, so there's no cause to re-arrange them.

Though if you depart London at around 13:00 the connection will be into the final train of the day on from Lyon to Geneve

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
This booking period tends to be shorter when looking up journeys between mid August and mid October.

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

When looking up this journey on Trainline, select Genève Cornavin as the destination.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for the trains to and from Lille, but they are not available on the train between Lyon and Geneve.

Eurostar train's general ticket terms:

'Customers can exchange tickets for travel in Standard and Standard Premier class multiple times without paying an exchange fee, as long as tickets are exchanged 7 days or more before the departure time of their individual journey
Though if the new ticket option is more expensive the difference in price will need to be paid, but if it is cheaper the price difference won't be refunded.
But make the exchange within 7 days of the individual journey and an admin fee of £30 will need to be paid, along with the price difference
Tickets to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class are not refundable.
In contrast tickets to travel in Business Premier Class can be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference'.
Eurostar's full ticket terms and conditions are here .

General ticket terms for TGV InOui trains

The terms on SNCF Connect state:
'Ticket can only be exchanged (adjustment to the current fare) and refunded prior to departure: 40% of the price 6 days prior to departure (€15 max fee). From 30 minutes prior to departure, tickets can be exchanged up to two times (for the same day and the same journey), and are non-refundable after the first exchange.
Which could be clearer, but it seems as though the three key things to be aware of are:

1. Exchanges and refunds are free up to 7 days before departure.
2. If you want to amend your booking in the 6 days before departure:
   If you are travelling on a TGV InOui train you must pay an amendment fee of €19 per person per person for an exchange or a refund.
3. In the 30 minutes before departure, refunds cannot be requested and exchanges are only allowed for the same journey later that day. The same amendment fees apply to the exchange.

Making the connection in Lille:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
'However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier (such as the TGV on from Paris) including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

But SNCF, which operates the train on to Lyon, has signed up to Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) policy for when a traveller holds separate transport 'contracts' for an end-to-end journey involving more than one train.
So this agreement applies both when 'a bundle' of tickets / contracts is issued as the result of a single transaction - and if travellers have bought several different tickets for their journey, even from different sales channels/ticket providers.
As long as the passenger had planned enough connecting time to change trains (called “reasonable connecting time”), the AJC will apply.

So in usual* circumstances, if a delay to a Eurostar has caused a booked connection on to Lyon to be missed, replacement tickets/reservations should be issued in Lille Europe.
Though it will not cover any accommodation costs if you cannot then be at Geneve by the end of the day.

*= But that new E.U legislation specifically states that in exceptional circumstances, the train operators do not need to issue replacement tickets - and the terms and conditions on the SNCF Connect website reiterate this.
These exceptional circumstances specifically stated in Regulation (EU) 2021/782 of the European Parliament include:

• extraordinary circumstances not connected with the operation of the railway, such as extreme weather conditions, major natural disasters or major public health crises...
• ...the behaviour of a third party... such as persons on the track, cable theft, on-board emergencies, law enforcement activities or sabotage.

Using Rail Passes:

For users of Eurail and InterRail passes this combination of Eurostar + TGV In Oui + TER trains, is cheaper than the combination of Eurostar + Lyria trains.

Rail pass users can now pay reservation fees to travel on Eurostar trains, in a similar manner to other international European high speed trains.

The new rail pass reservation fees are similar to the cheapest single journey ticket prices, but as those cheapest tickets can sell out quickly, it's likely that the rail pass reservation fees will save money.

You can purchase these online on B-Europe.
Booking in advance is recommended as it's not unknown for rail pass reservations on specific Eurostar services to sell out weeks in advance, there is evidently limited availability per departure.