The Most Stunning Line of the French Riviera: Saint-Raphaël to Nice with SNCF

Hey folks,
Welcome to this trip report onboard this TER service along the most stunning line on the French Riviera. Train from my childhood. Enjoy
LINK TO THE NEW PATREON PAGE : / simply_railway
Let me know your thoughts in the comments
TRIP INFORMATION -
RECORDED IN DECEMBER 2019
Railroad company: SNCF TER
Train type : Z 26500
From : Saint-Raphaël-Valescure to Nice Ville
Time : 1h23 min
Price : €12,80 or $15.53
Footage of the Train Bleu on the Anthéor viaduct :
• Le Train bleu / Interc...
INSTAGRAM - / simply_railway
TWITTER - si...
TIKTOK - / simplyrailway
SIMPLY RAILWAY PRODUCTS : teespring.com/...
EQUIPEMENT - Iphone Xs + DJi Mobile GO 2
English correction made by Michel Seignette de Kerobert
Thumbnail picture : Andrea Sosio

[@edisonz2006]

I once rode on the train from Nice to Monaco, it was really stunning along the coast! And the train we rode on had the Monaco livery!

[@formula1chelsearangers07]

Did you go on the Formula 1 track because I'm a fan

[@edisonz2006]

@@formula1chelsearangers07 Yes

[@NonstopEurotrip]

@@formula1chelsearangers07 I did too, it's a great experience to be able to walk the track, even the tunnel! 🏎️

[@3dSaul]

I rode the same route too!

[@Friek555]

I actually really like the weeds between the rails. They make the station look alive, and if they don't hamper operations I don't think they should be removed

[@MattNav]

That feeling when you see your local rail line in a video 👍 I live near Saint Raphael so I've taken this line countless times, mainly to go to Nice St Augustin for the airport. Between Antheor and Le Trayas is so visually stunning. Awesome video ! Btw, so looking forward to the Intercités de Nuit coming back to the Paris-Nice line by the end of 2021

[@mygiwi5498]

Planned for april, said french government (who wants 10 new night lines before 2029)

[@benjamintery7847]

Great to see videos back in France ! This line has been on my bucket list for a while ... Sad to see the Corails go, they are way more flexible, comfortable, and have more capacity than the Regio2n! :( Awesome video :)

[@NonstopEurotrip]

🇨🇵🇨🇵🇨🇵

[@aaravsgaming337]

@@NonstopEurotrip :D

[@frenchustube]

In regards to the weeds. In 2017 a law called " loi Labbé" was passed and forbids the usage of herbicides like round up and such containing glyphosate . The law is expanded to cemeteries walk way , sport facilities like stadiums , hotels, commercial zones, school grounds,campgrounds in 2022! The SNCF was the biggest user of it with 40 tons a year!

[@TIB1245L]

2:52 Love that wonderful sounding VF drive

[@bas3q]

1:36 "An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience." - Mitch Hedberg

[@markwarwick2920]

Amazing scenery. The TER are a great train set. It aill be great when we can travel again.

[@jimholder6656]

Nice trip & a great report -- thank you!

[@bertlevis]

Thanks for your videos really appreciate your quality work👍

[@gpsimracing579]

Wow. This surely one of the best routes in Europe. My dream would be ride it all from the Cinque Terre in Italy all the way to Saint-Raphael. It is STUNNING!

[@TerminatorMaxBGof33]

Bonjour, tout comme toi cette ligne fait partie de mon enfance et j'ai le privilège de pouvoir la prendre assez régulièrement, étant de la région (pour notamment faire une excursion dans l'Esterel, ainsi les haltes du Dramont, Agay, Antheor et Le Trayas n'ont plus aucun secret pour moi) 😁 On attend avec impatience un possible reportage de ta part sur le retour du Train Bleu le mois prochain 😉 Excellente continuation et vive le Rail !

[@anthonywarrener1881]

Thank you for a great review ! However, whilst the double deck EMUs are fine, I have always enjoyed riding the TER ex Corail stock with BB22200 locos in push-pull mode ! The whole route from Marseilles to Menton is a real must do !

[@NonstopEurotrip]

I agree 😇

[@delurkor]

1960, father was USAF stationed in France, we took a vacation to Italy. Stayed at a beach front hotel in San Raphael. Was to be over night, but ended up staying 3 days to enjoy the Riviera beach. That was our last major European vacation until Dad was Stationed in Brussels 64 to 66.

[@kangaroo092]

Un excellent parcours que tu m'as donné envie de faire. Comme d'habitude avec la SNCF c'est du "oui ... mais" ... Oui c'est bien ... Mais les vitres dégueus, les toilettes qui ferment pas (à moins que ce soit pour que la minute 11:27 ne m'y retrouve... ^_^ ), les annonces en vrac ... Il manque toujours cette touche d'amour du travail bien fait ... Le petit coup de chiffon final qui prouve que le travail n'est pas fait pour cocher des cases mais pour les clients.

[@cannedham8630]

Done this route in 2002! Nice to St Raphael and back 2 weeks later! Brought back memories of my favourite holiday destination, Would love to go back once this covid has passed!

[@theobrattinga500]

Great video !!

[@bobwyman3743]

squeeky window driving me nuts,,write that down!

[@cloverhal2284]

Alors on est d’accord c’est magnifique. Mais si un petit incident survient mettons à Cannes, c’est l’apocalypse pour tout le trafic TER, TGV et OUIGO. Il y a une semaine, je suis resté bloqué à Nice pendant 7h. C’est un goulot d’étranglement superbe mais problématique

[@fuyo5834]

2:52 It sounded like the MI09 (RER A)

[@Martin-on2pp]

That was a (I need to say it) a Nice video! As allways👍

[@chesapeakerailphotography]

Awesome video!

[@djnotgeil]

Train Bleu is a must do when in the area. Rode it to Casis last Summer (between the Covid waves.) The windows were clean, though.

[@Steve_McMillen]

Beautiful landscapes!

[@eopal-uk265]

thanks - i hope to go very soon

[@DanielsUKT]

i like the monaco red livery and seating too but the best bit was the coastal views out to the sea and amall towns and the moutains however the dirty windows is a bit of a turnoff especially with those beautiful views and no staff is concerning anything can happen on the train or as you said could be fare evaders etc so there should be staff to keep people safe

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Hi Daniel 😀

[@SimplyRailway]

dafuck

[@loucosportrem]

great videos, thanks for sharing with us, your channel is very cool, these days ago I posted another video of the locomotives of the logistical course in Araraquara s.p - Brazil, thanks

[@marcogeurts9881]

@Simply Railway the SNCF Z 26500 sounds the same as the dutch NS Virm/VIRMm

[@scottyerkes1867]

Awesome scenery!!-!

[@Andrewjg_89]

Never been to the South of France including Monaco. Plus the station looks like a hotel. Very nice video.

[@maxbarr3954]

The beutiful ter 2n one of my favorite train

[@Felyxorez]

Despite being a great video, it's so noticeable how much you improved during the past years especially compared to the US videos. Great Thibault!

[@Felyxorez]

Et si tu reviens encore une fois en Suisse ou en Turquie, je travaille aux CFF et je suis dispo pour toutes sortes d'info intéressantes par rapport aux lignes et au voitures etc. :)

[@Benjamin0c]

6:34 What’s a beautiful bike 😍

[@kangaroo092]

Oui, tiens, on l'achète où ?

[@conormcshane1656]

Lovely scenery alright 👌 Btw the bit about the toilet door reminds me of a faux pas I had on a train from Bordeaux to Arcachon during Euro 2016 - I went to use the toilet, pressed the button to open the door and there was a woman already in there! 😂😲 Needless to say, I pressed the button again to close the toilet door and beat a hasty retreat back to my seat. 😂 I wonder if she had that issue that you had or did she just forget to press the lock button.

[@sanapadsense1999]

2:24 For weeds there is an explanation, in France there has been a way for some time to let them spread everywhere, it is more "ecological". #greenwashing

[@coolcomments]

Peux tu faire une review du TER Centre ? Can you make a review of the TER Centre ?

[@Iristom]

Petite précision concernant l'absence du contrôleur. La SNCF a fait le choix, sur certaines portions de lignes TER, avec l'accord préalable des régions, de la suppression de la présence systématique du contrôleur. Ce qui est le cas en région PACA et plus particulièrement en Côte d'Azur. Par conséquent, pour le contrôle des billets, cela s'opère de la même manière que dans les transports urbains, avec des équipes volantes qui parcourent les trains de manière plus ou moins aléatoire. A part ça, je trouve tes vidéos vraiment sympathiques ! ;)

[@jamesrobinson9194]

Is it my imagination at 1:12, or are there not many trains running even though this was filmed pre-COVID? Did Simply travel on a Sunday when French trains are known to be very infrequent?

[@saharapengu]

At 1:16 the lower part of the display shows, that a labour strike was happening at that time. At that time train travel was heavily reduced.

[@mercy_is_not_an_option_-.-]

I rode that train once from Toulouse to Agen (i think)

[@frenchustube]

Toulouse to Agen is not on the French Riviera! Opposite side of France and no sea or ocean there!

[@mercy_is_not_an_option_-.-]

its on down middle (toulouse) to right/middle & down/middle (agen)

[@Prabhakarprabhakar-op2hb]

awesome ❤️❤️❤️

[@houndog1371]

Do trains in France even have conductors? I’ve noticed many have bodyside CCTV cameras, and as such may be operating ‘Driver Only’. That would explain why you didn’t see any onboard staff.

[@MrJimheeren]

Due to corona you see less conductors on board trains. They are still employed but they come back once covid is dealt with

[@dw3275]

The train at the end sounded like the jubilee line from the tube.

[@dharmagall9082]

When will you do a trip report about Flytoget?

[@videotiger7656]

I thought that the region or SNCF had decided that all ticket checks on the TER here were to be carried out by groups of staff? Although there might be a single contrôleur still I don't know.

[@henrik-j1l]

Thank you. How do you see this trip with a 4 yr child end of june?

[@SimplyRailway]

Doable but might be crowded

[@Martin-on2pp]

Is there achance the overnight trains return to the Southern of France?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

They've been announced! Lots of routes including Paris-Nice

[@Martin-on2pp]

@@NonstopEurotrip And something like Amsterdam-Nice? It would be nice if bikes are allowed too...

[@mygiwi5498]

Paris-Nice maybe in april 2021, and Paris- Biarritz-Hendaye in december 2021. It exists a Paris-Perpignan-Cerbere on weekends, or daily during vacation time.

[@Martin-on2pp]

I hope also international night-trains to southern France (and other countries) wille return.

[@mygiwi5498]

@@Martin-on2pp I have heard of a probable Nice-Brussels, among the 10 other new links to be created in France, in the near future. It would be nice if this line was extended to Amsterdam, at least in the summer.

[@davidecova4093]

If you want, you can try the TiLo an international regional train between Lugano (CH) and Milan - Como - Malpensa Airport (IT)

[@NonstopEurotrip]

That review is coming up on my channel soon 😇

[@ylilin]

... why would there be staff on that line? Isn't that line the equivalent of Regional Express in German-speaking Europe? Most trains here aren't staffed either, they do spot checks. (Teams of 3 - 5 Ticket inspectors spend their shift jumping between trains checking tickets.)

[@BsBsBock]

I went there last summer but the trains are so slow there

[@TravelSignal]

Lovely to see, also good voiceover. Perhaps release two versions - English voice and also French?

[@osasunaitor]

Impressive scenery! We also have a similar scenic route in spain with incredible views directly over the cliffs to the Mediterranean sea, between Barcelona and Vilanova. Unfortunately, here most trains are vandalised with graffiti so it's not possible to see anything from the windows :( The disadvantages of living in a backward country

[@TheCriminalViolin]

To be honest, I personally like weed ridden stations, it makes them a little more comfy, cozy & colorful among all the right angles, concrete and metal. It has a great feel to it. Also, I've never cared if someone fair dodges, even though I always pay my way to ride. For me, it has literally no impact at all, so I could care or less if people onboard chose to not pay their way. I'm there to enjoy mass transit, maybe some history, and an adventure, while getting efficiently from point A to point B. People dodging fairs never enters my mind as it has nothing to do with any of that. I also do not see how or why people correlate fair dodgers to increased lack of safety. It makes no sense whatsoever to me at all.

[@Abnerbandanovotempoinscrito1mi]

Boa viagem ai simply lindo tren 2andares show

[@arkitect156]

Hey look at that 2 likes no views lol, idk if I'm first anymore 😂😂

[@ashishaviation7210]

Who shot this benji or thibault

[@ag6371]

This is the only international TER

[@ag6371]

You should review the Transilien next

[@agermanengineer831]

Theres one more stunning ride: Marseille to Miramas but the slower line

[@ashishaviation7210]

Never think about weeds because in india if there are no weeds then that's not a railway station

[@barrywood2806]

Interesting to see a service run by a company that clearly doesn't care. Weeds on the track, filthy windows, faulty toilet door, no staff which as you point out is a safety concern (a serious one). Third class service for first class scenery.

[@83anggathereds]

3:16 ... salt bae

[@pikachu8508]

That dirty window is the one thing I hate about SNCF, look like they didn't care about cleanliness of their train, not even those TGVs in their fleet.

[@maxbarr3954]

You are french?

[@SimplyRailway]

OUI MONSIEUR

[@pierrem4560]

les trains à PACA sont sales, tres mal entretenus, c'est lamentable de voir meme les récents Rgio 2 N dans cet état

[@maxbarr3954]

Plm is paris lyon marseille

[@ampu-love6987]

voice amputation???

[@gekkoe1234]

Fishy fishy fish, making it stinky

[@RayVRoberts]

Filming facing backwards is unnerving for many people. You should film facing the direction of travel.

[@patrickbolmeyer9515]

Pre-Covid trip? No masks?

[@vivelestrains1012]

Gg