France ‘party train’ to lure travellers

Officials also trying to encourage travellers to swap seats and strike up conversations

PARIS: Overnight party trains with DJs, music and talent competitions are being planned by French railways to breath life into the service. The initiative comes after the state-run Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) signalled the end of an era with closure of its traditional sleeping cars to the French Riviera.

As older generations abandon the private compartments of the sedate wagon-lits, SNCF hopes to draw the 18-30s on to locomotives equipped with urban attractions. These include an all-night bar and loud rock and pop music for anyone who wants to dance.

Carriages next to the bar will be turned into lounges with soft lighting, and passengers will be encouraged to switch seats to strike up conversations. SNCF hopes to foster discussions and exchanges, though not flirting. “That’s not the goal,” a spokesman said. On-board activities will be organised, with firms invited to stage video games.

Railway executives also want to lay on talent competitions in which aspiring artists will sing, play an instrument or read a poem on a makeshift stage in the lounge carriage. One option is for passengers to vote on the best performers, whose show would be filmed and broadcast on the SNCF website.

The new service — called iDnight — will run from Paris to Biarritz in the southwest, Montpellier in the south and Nice in the southeast at weekends during the spring and autumn and every day during July and August. The SNCF scheme echoes the Snow Trains that runs from St Pancras to the Alps complete with a sound-proofed disco carriage. That, however, also includes a bed, which is not an option on the high-speed trains. They have no sleeping room and do not go particularly fast at night, when they have to restrict their speed to keep down the engine noise.