11 December 2011 is still a long way off, but the issue of how to provide the best service for TGV passengers before and after their journey is already on the table. On average, one in five TGV passengers use TER services before or after their high-speed journey. On the TGV Est line, TER benefitted as much from TGV as TGV benefitted from TER growth. That's why the SNCF is working so hard to coordinate TGV and TER.

The network effect is the key to TGV Rhin-Rhône success. It relies on timing the two services so that they work together to provide useful connections. The SNCF is working with the Regional Authorities concerned and has two goals - to serve the areas around Dijon, Besançon, Belfort-Montbéliard, Mulhouse and Strasbourg, and co-ordinate TER and TGV services to increase the impact of the regular TGV services.

First steps. In the Franche-Comté region, the TER service offer will be reorganised around the timetables of all lines from December 2011. In Alsace, services going to the South of the region will be reviewed so that they provide the best connections leaving from or to Mulhouse. In the Bourgogne region, passengers travelling through Dijon will benefit from a TER offer to a large number of destinations across the region timed to coincide with TGV timetables.