Téoz


Téoz was a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote long-distance reservation-obligatory passenger rail services on certain SNCF routes. SNCF established the Téoz system in 2003 as an attempt to bring certain key routes up to the 'same standards' as TGVs where high speed lines are not available, leaving ordinary Corail trains to serve the rest of the non high speed inter-city and inter-regional network. Téoz services were not universally liked as they required compulsory reservation but went little faster than the traditional services they replaced. Since December 2011 the Teoz brand has been abandoned and all SNCF long distance services have been assimilated into the Intercités brand, along with the overnight sleeper trains which have also lost their previous branding.
There is an Éco train, which runs once a day on the line from the Gare d'Austerlitz in Paris to Toulouse. In 2nd class, passengers can choose between reclining seats in an open carriage, or six-person couchette compartments with the couchettes folded to form benches. In 1st class, only couchettes are available. These are permanently in night position, so passengers in 1st class must either travel lying down, or agree to share the lower couchettes, sitting without backrests or armrests.