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

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 Dijon 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 the Gare De Lyon will typically take 25-35 minutes - depending on how long you will have to wait for an RER train.

Though the end-to-end journey options with a time of around 5hrs or less, only allow around an hour of time to make the transfer.
Ideal if the Eurostar arrives in time, but it only allows around 25mins contingency time in the event of a delay.

The alternative trains on from Paris

There are also trains from Paris Bercy station to Dijon, they are TER trains which don't use the high speed line.
So they are slower than the TGV trains, but they are a cheaper option when using Eurail or InterRail passes.
Though a reservation is now required on this route and they can be purchased at Bercy station,

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.

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 .

General ticket terms for TGV InOui trains

The terms on SNCF Connect state:
'Tickets 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 are travelling on a TGV InOui train and want to amend your booking in the 6 days before departure, 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 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 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 Dijon, 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 Dijon 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.