This is a list of a few key railway terms in English & French:
- aisle = couloir
- arrival = arrivée
- bus = autocar/car (sometimes used on local lines at off-peak times instead of trains)
- cancelled = annulé
- coach/carriage/car = voiture (ie vehicle)
- conductor = contrôleur
- connection/transfer = correspondance
- daily (including holidays) = Tous les jours (et fêtes/jours fériés)
- delay(ed) = en retard
- departure = départ
- does not run = Ne circule pas (followed by a day or days)
- engineering/maintenance work = travaux (your train may retimed or cancelled in the case of ' Travaux')
- entrance = entrée
- exit = sortie
- express = express ( Corail express trains operate on non-TGV routes)
- fast = rapide
- Gentlemen = Hommes
- high speed train = TGV (train à grande vitesse)
- Information = Renseignements / Accueil
- Ladies = Femmes
- left luggage = consigne
- Lost and Found/Lost Property = Objets trouvés
- luggage = bagages
- meeting point = point recontre
- nonsmoking = non fumeur
- on time = à l'heure
- one way = aller simple
- operates/runs = Circule (followed by a day or days)
- origin (where the train has come from) = provenance
- overnight train (intercity) = Lunea
- platform or line connection = correspondance
- platform section = repere (long platforms are often divided into lettered sections to assist boarding)
- Regional Train = TER (Transport Express Regional) or, around Paris, RER.
- reservation = réservation (compulsory on almost all long-distance trains)
- return = aller retour
- round trip/return = aller-retour
- seat = place / siege
- self service ticket machine = borne libre service
- shuttle = navette (your train may end before the line end and a shuttle is offered to the terminus
- smoking = fumeur (all trains in France are now non-smoking throughout)
- station = gare (Metro systems have 'stations')
- streetcar = tram
- (on) strike = en grève
- subway = Metro
- ticket = billet
- tickets, book of = carnet
- ticket office = guichet / billeterie
- track / platform = voie
- train = train
- train composition = composition des trains (many large stations display signs to indicate which REPERE your VOITURE will be alongside when the train stops.)
- tram = tram
- tram stop = station
- underground railway = Metro
- validate train tickets = composter les billets
- window = fenêtre