Paris CDG Airport Express: All You Need to Know About This Train
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport is set to have its own express train service in 2027. These are the details of the new railway link.
Getting to Paris CDG Airport by train
While several major European aviation hubs, most notably London Heathrow and Vienna, offer both a fast express train and a regular suburban service connecting the airport with the city, this is not the case in Paris.
If you currently wish to travel by public transport between the heart of Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport, often referred to by its IATA code CDG, you must take a suburban RER train on line B.
Although the RER – short for Réseau Express Régional, or Regional Express Network – is a perfectly fine option, these trains can become overcrowded during peak hours with both airport passengers and daily commuters.
Depending on the service you take – whether it is an RER train that stops at every station en route or only at the main ones – the journey from the airport to the major railway station of Paris Gare du Nord or RER stations in the city centre such as Châtelet–Les Halles and Saint-Michel Notre-Dame can take between 30 and 40 minutes.
Tickets for the RER train from Charles de Gaulle Airport to central Paris currently cost €13.
Soon, travellers heading into Paris will have a choice of which train to take, as a brand new CDG Airport Express is set to link Charles de Gaulle Airport with Gare de l’Est, in addition to the RER suburban trains to Gare du Nord and Châtelet–Les Halles.
The new Paris CDG Airport Express train
The new railway link from Paris Charles de Gaulle will run from the airport to Gare de l’Est, with a non-stop airport express train taking just 20 minutes to complete the journey.
Just like the RER, the CDG Airport Express will be a high-frequency service as well, with departures every 15 minutes in each direction.
The new airport train is supposed to run from 5:00 in the morning until midnight, which should cover most departures and arrivals at the airport.
Just like the Heathrow Express in London or the Vienna Airport train, known as the City Airport Train (CAT), the CDG Express will feature trains with interiors specifically designed to meet the needs of travellers.
That means special luggage racks on the airport train large enough to store heavy suitcases and bags, real-time flight departure information including check-in desks and gate numbers displayed on screens, as well as Wi-Fi internet.
The train, as well as the platforms at Paris CDG Airport and Gare de l’Est, will be fully accessible to wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility.
Paris Gare de l’Est
Paris Gare de l’Est, which will be the city terminus of the CDG Airport Express train, is one of the main railway stations in Paris.
Gare de l’Est lies adjacent to Gare du Nord, and transferring between the two Paris stations can easily be done on foot within ten minutes.
As you may expect from its name, Paris Gare de l’Est mainly handles train traffic to cities in the east of France, including high-speed TGV services to Reims, Nancy, Metz, and Strasbourg, as well as international services to Luxembourg and Germany.
Paris Gare de l’Est is well-connected by public transport to the rest of the city, including three metro lines (4, 5, and 7) as well as multiple bus routes.
At the adjoining Magenta station, you can connect to RER Line E, while RER Lines B and D are accessible at Gare du Nord.
Price of the airport express train
As you may expect, the ticket price for the new express train linking Paris CDG Airport with Gare de l’Est won’t be cheap, with the planned fare set at €24, an increase of nearly 72% compared to the current RER ticket price.
Due to the high price, many politicians have criticised the project, with Paris’ communist Deputy Mayor Jacques Baudrier describing the CDG Airport Express as a “stupid, grotesque, expensive, and useless project”.
A former mayor of Sevran, a Paris suburb just a short distance from Charles de Gaulle Airport, previously lashed out at the CDG Airport Express, calling it “useless and expensive” and “de facto reserved for businessmen” due to the price of the ticket.
However, the price of the CDG Express is in line with many other airport express trains in Europe, as a full fare single on the Heathrow Express in London costs £25 (€29.15), while the Flytoget train from Oslo to Gardermoen Airport costs 252 NOK (€21.25).
Only the City Airport Train in Vienna is a clearly cheaper express service, costing “only” €14.90 for a one-way journey.
Of course, passengers who find the price of the future CDG Airport Express too expensive can still opt to take the RER train, with Line B, which links the airport with the city centre of Paris, currently being modernised.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport TGV station
In addition to trains linking Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to the heart of the French capital, it is also possible to take a direct TGV high-speed train from the airport to many cities across France.
This can be an ideal way to travel, as you don’t have to first head into Paris to reach one of the city’s main terminus stations, saving both hassle and travel time.
Paris CDG Airport has its own TGV station, which currently offers high-speed train services to Angers, Arras, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Poitiers, Reims (Champagne-Ardenne TGV), Rennes, Strasbourg, Tourcoing, and even Brussels in Belgium.
Air France even offers combined plane + train tickets, allowing you to fly into Paris and then catch the TGV to your destination in France, or to Brussels in Belgium.
Conclusion
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will get its own express train service in 2027, with non-stop trains linking the airport to Gare de l’Est in the heart of the capital in just 20 minutes.
Just like in other European capitals with dedicated airport express services, such as London, the fast Parisian airport train will not be cheap, as the planned fare will be €24, nearly 72% higher than the price of the current RER regional train service.
