TL;DR
- OUIGO to launch a new route Lyon-Bordeaux direct by mid-2027with a journey time of around 5 hours.
- The direct connection Strasbourg ↔ Marseille in OUIGO High Speed is planned by the end of 2026.
- A OUIGO Classic Train Paris ↔ Bordeaux (2 return trips on weekends) will arrive in spring 2026.
- A 3ᵉ daily return trip Paris ↔ Strasbourg will be added from December 2026.
- Several existing lines will be strengthened from 2025-2026 (Paris-Côte basque, Paris-Rennes, Paris-Montpellier, Paris-Lyon).
- OUIGO is stepping up its development to offer more destinations, more trains and keep prices low. Objective: a 3x30 strategy (OUIGO is also studying new inter-city services (Paris-Lille, Paris-Strasbourg, etc.).
- New services available: OUIGOSWAP to resell tickets and OUIGOFULL an all-inclusive option package.
🆕 Update - January 2026
Since this article was published, OUIGO has confirmed several new routes and increased frequencies for 2026-2027, including a direct route Strasbourg ↔ Marseille a OUIGO Classic Train Paris ↔ Bordeaux and a 3ᵉ daily return trip Paris ↔ Strasbourg. These announcements complete the expansion strategy detailed below.
Do Lyon-Bordeaux in 5 hours with no change ? It will soon be possible! On Thursday November 27, 2025, OUIGO announced the arrival of a direct Lyon-Bordeaux line by 2027, as well as the reinforcement of several national routes, including to Brittany, the Basque Coast, Montpellier or Lyon. More trains, more destinations, and the promise to keep prices low.
Behind these announcements lies a clear ambition: change scale. OUIGO aims to carry 30% more customers by 2030 and become a pillar of high-speed transport in France. As summarized by Jérôme Laffon Director of OUIGO (whom we had received on our podcast) : "OUIGO has taken the 1st step towards the growth expected by the French. New equipment, new routes, new services - it's a new lease of life for developing mobility and enabling people with limited budgets to move or give up more polluting modes of transport."
OUIGO has a clear objective: to achieve a third of the high-speed market within SNCF Voyageurs by 2030. To achieve this, the low-cost brand is relying on three pillars: developing services, increasing the fleet and continuously improving the customer experience. And the ambition is not cosmetic: +30% traffic, +30% seats, +30% trains in three years.
In his LinkedIn post, Jérôme Laffon sums up the spirit as follows: "OUIGO asserts itself as accelerating train growth in France and Europe e : by bringing customers who could not afford to travel to the train or who were forced to travel by bus or car, alone or with others".
Today, according to OUIGO, one ticket in two is sold at less than 30 euros on high-speed trains, and one in two on less than 20 euros in OUIGO Train Classique. 80% of its customers even consider OUIGO as a "shield for their purchasing power".
From the December 14, 2025 :
At the summer 2026a third OUIGO Grande Vitesse round trip will be added on Paris-Montpellier via Lyon Saint-Exupéry.
Late 2026OUIGO will strengthen Paris-Lyon with a third round trip from Friday to Monday.
At the beginning of 2026, OUIGO confirmed several major openings that will further densify its coverage of the country:
By mid-2027, OUIGO will be launching a direct link Lyon-Bordeaux a first. It will offer one round trip per day all year round, via Massy TGV, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Poitiers and Angoulême for a journey time of around five o'clock.
Jérôme Laffon makes no secret of the symbolic importance of this opening: "A direct Lyon-Bordeaux round trip, without passing through Paris, in 5 hours. BANG. A true return to the future for a mythical offer!"
As early as November 2025, OUIGO mentioned several avenues of development: reinforcement of the Paris-Strasbourg route, development of the Paris Gare du Nord-Lille route, and links between regional metropolises.
OUIGO - Map of new routes
All these signals confirm that the "out of Paris radials" strategy is no longer a mere announcement, but a key element in OUIGO's development.
To absorb the increase in traffic and destinations, OUIGO plans to expand from 38 to 50 trains by 2027. This includes 40 new, larger and more comfortable trains, as well as 10 renovated trainsets.
A number of new features have been introduced or are being ramped up:
Finally, with these announcements, OUIGO is no longer content to exist on the low-cost train market: the brand intends to become one of the pillars of France's high-speed network With more cross-border connections, more frequencies, and continued downward pressure on prices. A dynamic which, if confirmed, could well change the way people travel by train in France.
Issue du monde de la communication et des médias, Sophie est Responsable éditoriale chez HOURRAIL ! depuis août 2024. Elle est notamment derrière le contenu éditorial du site ainsi que La Locomissive (de l'inspiration voyage bas carbone et des bons plans, un jeudi sur deux, gratuitement dans ta boîte mail !).
Convaincue que les changements d’habitude passent par la transformation de nos imaginaires, elle s’attache à montrer qu’il est possible de voyager autrement, de manière plus consciente, plus lente et plus joyeuse. Son objectif : rendre le slow travel accessible à toutes et tous, à travers des astuces, des décryptages et surtout, de nouveaux récits.
