Trains to and from Rodez Airport (RDZ)

Rodez Airport serves the city of Rodez, which is the capital of the Aveyron department, and is found in the Midi-Pyrénées region south of France. The surrounding departments also form part of the airport’s catchment area, and include Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère and Cantal.  The airport is not very large, with under two hundred thousand passengers per year, and does not offer many public forms of transportation. There is no train station at the airport, and there are also no local buses which stop at the airport. However, taxis are available, and are often used for transport to the Rodez railway station in the city, from where a variety of trains leave for a number of destinations.

The airport of Rodez has a single terminal building, which is fairly well equipped with the facilities required by its passengers. There is a restaurant on the first floor, a café on the ground floor, and payphones, vending machines and tourist information counters in the main airport area. Since there are no train or bus services from the airport, passengers often rent a car, from one of the Rodez Airport car hire companies which are found nearby the arrival area. Car hire however, can be too expensive for some, and then a form of public transport may be preferred. In order to reach the transport services of the city, passengers can take a taxi.

The taxi rank is found just outside of the airport building, and taxis are generally available throughout the day, especially at times of arrival flights. The taxis are metered, and customers are therefore charged per kilometre travelled on the journey. There may also be additional costs for luggage loaded, more than four adult passengers and animals transported in the vehicle. Taxis are also more expensive on Sundays and public holidays, and after 19:00 at night. A taxi to the Rodez train station will cost between fifteen and twenty Euro on weekdays during the hours of 07:00 and 19:00, and between twenty and thirty Euro when travelling later at night or on a Sunday. The airport is situated approximately 12km, or 7 miles from the city centre of Rodez, and by taxi the drive will be about twenty minutes. The Rodez Airport taxi companies include Go Allo Taxis, Taxis of Clairvaux, Durand Taxis, Taxis Nucois and Taxis Roy.

Rodez has a nice train station which is often used by tourists and locals to travel to various parts of the country by rail. The station’s physical address is at Avenue de Maréchal Joffre 25, Rodez 12000, which is just to the north of the city’s centre. At the station there are taxis available, and local buses that take passengers to areas in the city, and to Millau, a town to the south-east of Rodez. The station has a café for hungry passengers and also vending machines with coffee. Newsagents are available as well. From all stations in France, train tickets can be purchased and booked. For the majority of trains, tickets can be bought on the day of travel, but for the fast TGV trains, tickets must be reserved in advance. TGV tickets can be purchased up to three months before your departure.

The Rodez train station, or the Gare de Rodez, is located on the Capdenac-Rodez, Castelnaudary-Rodez and Rodez-Sévérac-le-Château railway lines, and is served by a few varieties of trains. There are night services (also known as the Lunéa) travelling the route of Paris – Orléans – Figeac – Rodez and Albi, and local TER Midi-Pyrénées services which serve the cities of Toulouse, Albi, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Figeac and Millau. Direct trains run between the Paris Gare d’Austerlitz and Rodez, and these are the high-speed TGV trains which are a very popular way to travel in France. The train goes via Toulouse, which is about six hours from Paris and a little over two hours from Rodez. Two trains are available to Paris each day, and five trains a day travel between Marseille and Rodez, also via Toulouse. This is about a seven hour journey.

On TGV trains, there are special storage spaces for bicycles. These spaces will need to be reserved and will cost around ten Euro. Bikes can be taken free of charge in a bike bag that is within the maximum measurements. The TGV trains have modern carriages, and the majority of passengers have access to spacious seats, the bar buffet car, vending machines for drinks and snacks and drop-down tables suitable for laptops. All trains have baby changing facilities and are accessible by disabled travellers. Children under the age of four can travel for free if they do not require their own seat, and children under twelve can travel on a child’s fare. Some trains even offer space for your children to play, and folding tables with board games.

Regardless on which train you travel, your ticket will require validation. Ensure that you have your ticket stamped in one of the machines that are found on the station’s platform before you board the train. Heavy fines can be issued if a passenger is carrying a ticket which has not been validated, or who is carrying no ticket.

Although there is no train station at the airport, passengers can easily reach the city’s railway station and services by taxi. SNCF is the country’s railway operator, and further details of their services can be found at http://www.sncf.com.