Yes you can! (snowboards on TGVs)

Some rules are made to be ignored. 

Or at least, so it seems with snowboards on TGVs.

As you may be aware, the luggage guidance on SNCF’s website states that you can bring skis of any length on TGV trains and ‘you can bring a snowboard up to a maximum length of 130cm.’
 
The genius who wrote that rule either has never seen a snowboard in real life, or simply enjoys a bit of regulatory gaslighting.  
 
But, as I’ve been researching over the past couple of weeks, the reality on the ground – or rather, on the trains – is different.

Photo: Daniel Elkan

At Bourg-Saint-Maurice station on Saturday, I asked people who were carrying large snowboard bags the following questions:
 
1.    Is that a snowboard in your bag (or are you just pleased to see me)?
 
2.    Did you travel with it by TGV?
 
If the answer to both questions, was ‘Yes’, then I asked a third question:
 
3.    Was everything OK with the snowboard on board, and did the train staff seem to mind?
 
In total, I asked ‘Question 3’ to 16 snowboarders. Every one of them told me that they had no problem at all and no SNCF staff objected.
 
That’s a 16 – 0 win for snowboards on TGVs. 

Photo: Daniel Elkan

Photo: Daniel Elkan

I also approached an SNCF train manager at the station, and asked him, in French: “Is it OK to bring skis and snowboards on board TGV trains?” He replied that it was fine to do so.
 
In the catered chalet where I stayed, I met snowboarders who’d arrived by TGV train with no problem at all. In the resort I spoke to some others, who’d travelled with snowboards on TGVs and said they’d seen lots of other snowboards on TGVs – and that, to paraphrase Sesame Street, “everything’s A-OK.”

Remember that on Eurostar trains, skis and snowboards are allowed, too, so no problem there of course.  

Photo: Daniel Elkan

A week earlier in Grenoble, I also asked two SNCF train staff on the TGV platform the same question: ““Is it OK to bring skis and snowboards on board TGV trains?”  The answer was: “Yes, no problem. There isn’t always so much space but we always manage to find a solution.”

Nor have I received any emails from any snowboarders who encountered a problem.
 
So, it seems that there is a huge difference between the stated rule (“No, you can’t”) and what is actually happening (“Yes, you can”). 
 
SNCF staff on the ground are applying common sense and letting people bring their happiness-trays to the slopes.
 
I thought you might like to know this, because knowledge lets you make better travel decisions.

I’d love to hear about your experiences so far - do get in touch.
 
Happy skiing, happy snowboarding. One plank or two, let us not be divided!

Photo: Daniel Elkan