Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - known to most as SNCF, France's primary rail network - has signed a deal with Amadeus, the global technology and distribution solutions company, to enable travel agents to book tickets from the UK.
As part of its plan to make SNCF's services more available throughout Europe, tickets can now be booked and ticketed using Amadeus in the UK.
The service will be available in Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland by the end of January, and in Italy and the Netherlands by the end of the first quarter of 2007.
Travel agencies will be able to compare schedules and fares, with real-time sell and confirmation. When booking on TGV with certain city-pairs there will also be access to graphical coach and seat-map displays.
Amadeus managing director travel services & leisure Albert Pozo said: ”To encourage rail providers to sell their content internationally and to meet the trend of environmentally friendly transport, Amadeus has been able to provide a solution where providers' fares and availability are displayed in a seamless and straight forward manner.”