Trains to and from Poitiers Airport (PIS)

Poitiers Airport is a public and international airport in France, and is situated just a few kilometres west of Poitiers city. Poitiers is a commune of the Vienne department of the country, about an hour and a half’s drive inland from the western coast and areas such as La Rochelle, and is nearby a couple of prominent cities, for example, Niort, Tours and Limoges. Poitiers Airport is commonly referred to as the Poitiers-Biard Airport, due to its location in Biard, and has the official code of PIS. It is only a small airport, and therefore there is no Poitiers Airport train station available for its passengers. However, the train station in the city can be reached by various forms of transportation from the airport.

Poitiers Airport handles approximately 120,000 passengers per annum, some years more and some years less, but is generally a smaller airport of the country, serving both tourists and business professionals. It provides a gateway to the city of Poitiers, as well as many other small towns and cities in the region. The airport has a ‘new’ terminal building which was built in 2002. It is equipped to welcome disabled passengers, and it has a few useful facilities, including a bar/restaurant, cash machines, car hire companies and airport shops. Passengers will arrive on the ground floor of the terminal, and most departure proceedings are handled from the upper level. Most of the smaller airports in France are not equipped with their own railway station, and Poitiers is no exception. However, although there is no Poitiers Airport train station, buses are available which take passengers to the station in the city, and are also a very convenient way to travel from or to the airport.

Arriving passengers will find the bus stop just outside of the terminal building. The buses are scheduled according to the Ryanair flights of the airport, and leave approximately half an hour after each flight has landed. The airport is mainly served by the airline companies of Ryanair and Airlinair, who fly between Poitiers and Lyon, London-Stansted and Edinburgh, and possibly Barcelona, Birmingham and Ajaccio. The tickets for the bus can be purchased from the driver, and will cost five Euro for a one-way journey. The trip by bus to the train station will only take about ten minutes, since that the airport is located just 2.4km from the city centre, but the time will also be dependent on the current traffic conditions. Passengers who have arrived at the Poitiers train station, and who need to reach the airport, can also travel by a bus which corresponds to the Ryanair flight departure times. They depart from the railway station about an hour and ten minutes before the flight is scheduled. Alternatively, passengers can travel to and from the Poitiers train station by taxi, as from both locations, taxis are almost always available for transport. A taxi into the city will cost around 10 Euro, depending on the time of day, and the day of the week you travel.

The Poitiers Train Station, also known as the Gare de Poitiers, is found at the physical address of 2 Boulevard Pont Achard, 86000 Poitiers cedex, and is open at the following hours: Monday – 04:45 t 22:45, Tuesday to Thursday – 05:15 to 22:45, Friday – 05:15 to 23:30, Saturday – 06:00 to 22:45, and on Sundays and bank holidays from 07:00 to 23:30. The station is about five minutes from the city centre, and many of the city’s bus routes run via the station. The Gare de Poitiers is equipped with a restaurant and a take-away, a home luggage service and a lost property office, public telephone boxes, a WiFi hotspot, and a waiting room in the station hall. A bank for currency exchange facilities and a tourist office is located nearby the station. The station at Poitiers welcomes disabled passengers, and for assistance with boarding, one can go to the disabled person’s reception desk. Passengers in need of help should arrive at the station at least half an hour before their train departs. The reception desk can also be contacted at +33 (0)8 90 64 06 50.

Poitiers Train Station is one of the major stations in France, and is located on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line. It serves the Poitou-Charentes region, and like the airport, is found in the Vienne department of the country. The TGV Atlantique services run from the Paris Montparnasse Train Station to Poitiers, and then on to Bordeaux, making various stops along the way. The journey from Poitiers to Paris, or vice versa, is about an hour and a half on this high-speed train of France. Bordeaux can be reached in just under two hours, Lyon is about a three and a half hour journey, and Lille is a three hour journey. TGV trains reach a top speed of 200mph, and have various classes for their passengers. A range of seat varieties are available in each class, and services on the trains include a bar buffet, vending machines, power points, drop-down tables suitable for laptops and welcome services. There are also baby-changing facilities on board, and bottles for babies can be warmed. Children under four years of age who do not require a seat will travel for free, and children under twelve can travel on a child’s fare. Tickets for the TGV trains should be reserved in advance, and can be booked up to three months before the date of travel. Remember to validate your ticket in one of the yellow machines before boarding the train.

TER (Transport Express Regional) services are available to and from Poitiers Train Station as well, and they travel between this city and Angoulême, Tours, Limoges, Niort and La Rochelle. Tickets for these trains can be purchased on the day of travel, and should be validated as well.

Although no Poitiers Airport train station, passengers will easily be able to reach the railway services of Poitiers by bus or taxi, and can find out more information online, at http://www.sncf.com.