Are trains from Bayonne to SJPDP not available in April?

[irrie]

On sncf.fr it seems that there are no trains in april from Bayonne to ST Jean Pied de Port in april, only buses? Or will tbe trains appear on a later date?

 

[theclaireperson]

On sncf.fr it seems that there are no trains in april from Bayonne to ST Jean Pied de Port in april, only buses? Or will tbe trains appear on a later date?

A recent thread on here states that “ the SCNF track between Bayonne and SJPdP was washed out in the storms last month but they always offer an alternate bus connection when that happens” (https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ses-on-rome2rio-april-2022.72724/#post-986242)

I was looking for myself for late march so decided to research why!

 

[irrie]

Thank you Claire! I hope the track will be fixed in april

 

[Rick M]

It won't matter if the tracks are still out. The trains from Bayonne to sjpp run when they can, and the route is served by a replacement bus when they can't. Buy a train ticket, and they will point you out to the parking lot for the bus if there is a problem.

For beginners, you should buy your TGV tickets to Bayonne ahead of time. The TER train to sjpp can be bought anytime on a walk up basis, or at the same time you buy the TGV tickets. The train operator, SNCF, releases the tickets in batches. Nominally, this is three months ahead, but often, it's less. Just keep checking before you go. The available trains will just appear one day, then you can get them. This is not as urgent as plane tickets, since trains can expand and shrink as required, unlike an airplane, and rarely sell out. The only reason to buy them in advance is you may get a discounted seat for the TGV. The TER train is always the same price, like a subway.

 

[Glen Moray]

My flight to Biarritz arrived too late to get the same day train to SJPP, so I had to overnight in Bayonne and got the first replacement bus the following day. The bus appeared in the car park next to the station and after a leisurely journey got to SJPP at 8.10 am so after walking to the Pilgrim's Office only had a few minutes to wait for it to open.

Cost was only 2 Euros which seemed absurdly cheap. Nobody checked it so not sure if this was the correct price !

 

[JabbaPapa]

It's a patchy line, including because of a related project to reopen the Oloron-Canfranc link, as that project involves the entire local and regional rail infrastructure.

Also the ongoing effort to reinstate the night trains.

But if you get into Bayonne early enough, apart from the SNCF replacement bus which might be convenient for the ease, there's also an ultra el cheapo local small bus line that you could take up to SJPP (might possibly need to switch to a different bus in some circumstances).

 

[John Crawford Howell]

I was also in Bayonne in mid-April (2017), and learned there was no train because of a rock/mud slide. The bus was fine. Instead of walking through the doors onto a train platform, the bus was in the train station parking lot waiting for us to board in the warm mid-morning sunshine. St. Jean Pied de Port, here we come!

 

[Cicada]

I was also in Bayonne in mid-April (2017), and learned there was no train because of a rock/mud slide. The bus was fine. Instead of walking through the doors onto a train platform, the bus was in the train station parking lot waiting for us to board in the warm mid-morning sunshine. St. Jean Pied de Port, here we come!

Maybe we were on the same bus!

 

[domigee]

Absolutely no problem. If there is no train, a bus is available.

 

[John Crawford Howell]

Maybe we were on the same bus!

Wouldn't that have been a wonderful coincidence! I took the train from Paris Montparnesse on April 19th arriving in Bayonne and walking across the street to the Hotel Cote Basque where I stayed the evenings of the 19th and 20th. On April 21st, I was on the 11:10 a.m. bus at the Bayonne train station to SJPdP. I stayed at the Auberge Beilare across the lane from the Pilgrim Office. I started on the Camino on April 22nd—Earth Day. On the bus going up to SJPdP, I was the fellow who looked like Gregory Peck and you were the very image of Ava Gardner. I lost sight of you after our packs were retrieved from the underbelly of the bus. From that point forward . . . crickets ;-)

 

[Kathar1na]

Absolutely no problem. If there is no train, a bus is available.

I am not sure that it is clear what the issue is. Is not whether the TER train is fully or partially replaced by a TER bus on the line Bayonne to SJPP. Which is a matter of routine. It's that the interactive online traintables currently show nothing at all anymore for the line Bayonne to SJPP in late March and beyond. What they show for April are bus connections via Saint Palais which take much longer. I personally suspect that it's a bug.

Currently, as someone said who travelled recently, passengers travel on the TER train from Bayonne to Cambo les Bain and then change to a TER bus for the rest of the journey to SJPP. This is due to engineering works that last for several weeks. It is reflected in the online timetables.

It doesn't really matter whether a TER bus replaces a TER train as long as the timetable remains the same. But this is no longer the case for April. That's the current issue. I wrote to them to ask what the matter is in April. If I get a reply, I'll post it here.

 

[Kathar1na]

BTW, when I walked through France and studied train timetables to get to my starting point or return home from an endpoint, I initially didn't understand what the French word car means. It means coach, long-distance bus, or similar. You may notice in the timetables copied above that they distinguish between TER car (a bus run or managed by the French railways) and bus (a bus run or managed by bus companies). I think that TER buses always leave and stop close to trains stations while this may not always be the case for other buses.

At least that's how I understand it now. I am happy to be corrected.

 

[Cicada]

Wouldn't that have been a wonderful coincidence! I took the train from Paris Montparnesse on April 19th arriving in Bayonne and walking across the street to the Hotel Cote Basque where I stayed the evenings of the 19th and 20th. On April 21st, I was on the 11:10 a.m. bus at the Bayonne train station to SJPdP. I stayed at the Auberge Beilare across the lane from the Pilgrim Office. I started on the Camino on April 22nd—Earth Day. On the bus going up to SJPdP, I was the fellow who looked like Gregory Peck and you were the very image of Ava Gardner. I lost sight of you after our packs were retrieved from the underbelly of the bus. From that point forward . . . crickets ;-)

Missed you by " that much!!" 99 and I took the afternoon bus from Bayonne on the 21st and commenced walking on Sunday the 23rd . I'm sure our paths must have crossed somewhere. Not that I look like Ava ...maybe my wife does though. We had a lovely Camino and hope that you did too.

 

[John Crawford Howell]

Missed you by " that much!!" 99 and I took the afternoon bus from Bayonne on the 21st and commenced walking on Sunday the 23rd . I'm sure our paths must have crossed somewhere. Not that I look like Ava ...maybe my wife does though. We had a lovely Camino and hope that you did too.

Dang! After I posted I got to thinking: John, what makes you think someone who identifies in this forum as Cicada is a female? Alas, I have my answer. Permit me to wipe that last bit of egg off my face so I can start the day. Sometimes there is no accounting for the things that can unconsciously get channeled: I actually had a girlfriend many many years ago named Cricket. Thanks for letting me down easy.

Wow! That was close. I'm equally sure our paths crossed more than once, Cicada. I, too, had a wonderful Camino. I took my time. I heard the Cuckoo every day. Many a day, just took off my pack, laid on my back in the grass and watched the clouds drift by. I was always on the lookout for trout with every river bridge I crossed. In all, 45 days with one rest day in Leon. I arrived Santiago on June 5th looking more like Charles Bronson than any Gregory Peck look alike.

Have a wonderful day.

 

[bkkboy]

Is it better to get to SJPP via Pamplona or Bordeaux? I can fly into either. By better I mean quicker, which may mean cheaper if I do not have to stay overnight. I believe there is a regular bus from Pamplona to SJPP.

 

[Kathar1na]

I emailed the French Rail company SNCF. They confirmed that there is a disfunction with their online timetables for the line Bayonne-Saint Jean Pied de Port from the end of March onwards. They said that they will fix it.

They sent me the printed timetable for the line Bayonne-SJPP that is valid until the 1st of July 2022. This timetable in pdf form is also available online. I attach it to this post:

SNCF publishes their train timetables months ahead. Some tickets are not released until closer to travel time but this does not apply to the train timetables in France.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Is it better to get to SJPP via Pamplona or Bordeaux? I can fly into either. By better I mean quicker, which may mean cheaper if I do not have to stay overnight. I believe there is a regular bus from Pamplona to SJPP.

June through September ALSA/CONDA has had in the past a 10:00 AM bus and in July and August an additional 12:00 bus. They also have afternoon buses. The trip is supposed to take a bit under 2 hours.