IC (France)

French national rail operator SNCF operates two different kinds of Intercités train services, which can be confusing as both services are branded Intercités online and at stations.

On some other longer distance routes taken by Intercité trains, seats have to be reserved (which impacts on rail pass users) and catering is available.

But on these shorter Intercités routes to/from Paris including

- Paris Nord - Amiens - Boulogne
- Paris St Lazare - Caen - Cherbourg
- Paris St Lazare - Rouen - Le Havre
- Paris Est - Belfort

seats DON'T HAVE to be reserved and catering isn't available.

This type of Intercités train is also used on these routes (amongst others):

- Bordeaux - Nantes
- Bordeaux - Lyon
- Tours - Lyon

If you will be making a comparatively long journey, such as Paris - Caen, then making a reservation a recommended and they cost less than €2.

These trains are more similar to TER trains than the other Intercité trains, and on some departures older coaches, which are arguably inferior to the latest TER trains, will be used.
The tick in their box is that they operate to faster schedules than TER trains.

However, as they're markedly different to other Intercités trains we have classified them as IC (France).

Our general GUIDE to using trains in France