Health pass required for French TGV, etc...

[caravanman]

Planning your travel
When you travel you must:

• wear a mask throughout your journey. If you don’t wear a mask, you are subject to a €135 fine.
• bring your ticket, your railcard or pass, and an ID.
• bring your health pass. If you can’t present a health pass, you are subject to a €135 fine.

About France’s health pass
Which trains require a health pass?
Since Monday 9 August, you must have a health pass to board any TGV INOUI, INTERCITÉS or OUIGO train to destinations in France, or any long-distance international train departing from France. These new requirements do not apply to RER or Transilien commuter trains, or TER regional trains operating in France.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

It’s not like I will be traveling to Europe anytime soon. But how does a outsider get or use a health pass. We US based folks are so disorganized so there no standard for us. Each state does it own thing.

 

[PaTrainFan]

Because in this country's fractured political environment the states have all the power and many of them are still in denial that the pandemic is a thing.

It’s not like I will be traveling to Europe anytime soon. But how does a outsider get or use a health pass. We US based folks are so disorganized so there no standard for us. Each state does it own thing.

 

[Exvalley]

Because in this country's fractured political environment the states have all the power and many of them are still in denial that the pandemic is a thing.

It would be very easy for the federal government to at least come up with a unified system - even if they leave the use of it up to the states. For some reason the federal government has not been willing to do this, regardless of the administration.

One example of how this can be frustrating is New York's Exelsior Pass. As far as I can tell, only New Yorkers are able to use it. Which means that there are many things that non-New Yorkers are excluded from.

 

[Deni]

It’s not like I will be traveling to Europe anytime soon. But how does a outsider get or use a health pass. We US based folks are so disorganized so there no standard for us. Each state does it own thing.

There is a system in place for non-EU citizens to apply for a health pass. There's a online application and you upload documents. I'm not positive what documentation one needs since our vaccine cards are not really hard to forge, but there is a system in place for tourists. And once you have that pass for one EU country you can travel to others. Except, of course, for the ones that have recently changed their rules for Americans.

 

[cirdan]

What is a health pass?

Is that the electronic QR code thingy, or does a simple written paper certificate suffice.

 

[cirdan]

i don't know how things are now but last time i was on a tgv was in about February. The mask mandate was already in place then but I don't think they were fining people. If the staff saw a passenger without a mask they would politely remind them and it was never an issue. It is so easy to forget, for example if you've been eating or drinking and then forget to put your mask back on. Being fined in a situation like that is disproportionate IMHO. I hope they are still being reasonable about it.

But one thing they were pretty allergic to was people not sitting in their allocated seats and they were keeping a close eye to make sure nobody moved. Maybe because they only disinfect the seats that were actually occupied. This was a train that had a maximum 5% occupancy rate because they were discouraging people from travelling.

 

[slasher-fun]

What is a health pass?
Is that the electronic QR code thingy, or does a simple written paper certificate suffice.

It's a QR code that proves that either you've been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days, or that you took a test that came back negative no more that 48 hours ago. Doesn't matter if the code is printed or shown on a screen

Being fined in a situation like that is disproportionate IMHO. I hope they are still being reasonable about it.

You mean it's disproportionate to fine people for not wearing a mask properly during a pandemic in a closed public space? Well, good news for you, they have been "reasonable about it", and about 20-30% of people are now wearing their masks under their nose/chin (equivalent to not wearing a mask at all), and the staff just doesn't care.

 

[cirdan]

You mean it's disproportionate to fine people for not wearing a mask properly during a pandemic in a closed public space? Well, good news for you, they have been "reasonable about it", and about 20-30% of people are now wearing their masks under their nose/chin (equivalent to not wearing a mask at all), and the staff just doesn't care.

Last time I was travelling I was the only person in the entire car. And I do believe that you can achieve much more by reminding people gently than by threatening to call the police. I am willing to wager that most people wearing their mask incorrectly or not at all mean no harm and that it just slipped their attention momentarily and that they would be glad to remedy the situation if it was pointed out to them. I have actually seen plenty of people totally overreacting and it is very ugly.

 

[slasher-fun]

I am willing to wager that most people wearing their mask incorrectly or not at all mean no harm and that it just slipped their attention momentarily and that they would be glad to remedy the situation if it was pointed out to them.

I think it could have been a possibility in the early times of the mask mandate, yes.
But as of today, it is definitely a voluntary behavior. In France, unlike in some other countries, you have to wear a mask pretty much everywhere indoors, that includes train stations, buses, trains, planes, and it has been so for more than a year now. On each long-distance trip, the staff will remind several times over PA that everyone is required to have a mask covering their face and nose. They will even sometimes remind directly people who "forget". And as soon as the staff member is gone... their mask is back under the chin/nose.

If you had people travelling without a valid ticket on Amtrak, and staff just reminding them every time that next time they should not forget to have one, without ever being fined or anything, do you really think those people would ever buy a ticket one day? I think they wouldn't.

Because the purpose of some rules is not obvious enough. Or because some people think that rules just apply to others, and decide with their own pros and cons whether a rule should apply to them or not: for those people, if you set a rule, but never enforce it, and never apply whatever fine or sanction can be imposed in that case, it is exactly as if the rule didn't exist.
Ever watched the TV show Supernanny? That's exactly the problem with some of the kids in this show: their parents set rules, threaten to sanction them if they don't respect the rule, but never actually sanction them. Well, those kids just behave as if the rules didn't exist. And drama ensues.