Having arrived a little early, it was at the Grand Voyageur lounge Paris-Lyon station that this test of the new TGV Lyria Business 1stthe Franco-Swiss railway company owned by SNCF and CFF. Located in a corner of Hall C, on level -1 of the station overlooking Place Henri Frenay, this area allows passengers who have bought a ticket in this class to wait for their train while working, enjoying a drink or browsing the daily newspapers and magazines provided free of charge. A few steps are all it takes to reach the TGV Lyria platform, which is accessible from this floor of Gare de Lyon.
At the train door, Business 1st customers are greeted by one of the two stewards in charge of this dedicated car which has a total of 31 seats. Once we've settled in and the TGV is already crossing the eastern suburbs of Paris, they hand out an oshibori, those little refreshing Japanese towels, the day's menu and an aperitif, just like in airline business class. It's true that it's LSG Groupthe specialist in catering at an altitude of 10,000 metres, which has been chosen to provide catering for TGV Lyria in order to raise its standards.
Gone are the old-fashioned meal trays distributed in 1st class with their plastic containers and cutlery. Make way for "La TableTGV Lyria will be offering a plated service, with porcelain and designer steel cutlery on a small white tablecloth placed on the seat shelf. In terms of flavours, TGV Lyria promises regional and seasonal recipes by a young French chef, Mathieu Castex. On the day of the test, after the starter of armailli macaroni, there were three main courses on offer: herb-crusted salmon fillet with parmesan risotto, pan-fried courgettes and roasted mushrooms and peppers; mushroom and gorgonzola risotto with pan-fried butternut with pumpkin seeds and parmesan shavings; or chicken fillet with Jura wine sauce, accompanied by potato gratin with morbier cheese and honey-roasted butternut. The latter was my favourite. The result was quite a success, with the bird not being dry, the gratin melting and the butternut full of flavour. All this could be washed down with a choice of mineral waters, craft beers or French and Swiss red and white wines. A selection of cheeses, followed by a Paris-Brest renamed Paris-Bâle because of its chestnut cream, and a service of digestifs rounded off the evening. meal served in about 45 minutes. Passengers wishing to optimise their journey time for work can choose only part of the menu. While the landscape flies by at 300 km/h, TGV Lyria's ambition, with this meticulous service and more refined cuisine than ever before, is to (re)give demanding customers a taste for rail travel between France and Switzerland. And above all to justify a fixed fare of €191 one way on the Paris-Geneva199 for Paris-Basel and €226 for Paris-Zurich.
For this price, the hostess also distributes newspapers and magazines on board and offers to book a taxi or chauffeur-driven car on arrival at the station. Above all, business travellers benefit from a guaranteed seats on all trains of the day on the route of your reservation. The only regret is that TGV Lyria doesn't offer wifi on board during the journey and I have to fall back on the 4G on my mobile to check my emails. We'll finally have to wait until 2020 to benefit from new high-speed trains of TGV Lyria, the seat, although comfortable, remains that of a classic 1st class.
