Paris RER and trains guide

Where the RER fits into getting around

The Paris metro covers the city in dense, closely spaced stations, and most first-time visitors never need anything else for a day spent around the Louvre, Montmartre or Le Marais. The RER is a different layer underneath the same fare system: five express train lines that cut through Paris on a handful of central stops, then keep going far out into the suburbs. For a visitor staying in Paris, the RER matters mainly for three things: reaching the airports, reaching day-trip destinations such as Versailles, and occasionally crossing the city faster than the metro when two points sit on the same RER line.

The RER is not a replacement for the metro inside Paris. Stations are much further apart, so within the city itself the metro is usually still the more convenient choice for short hops between neighbourhoods. Think of the RER as the tool for leaving Paris, or for covering a long straight distance across it, not for hopping between the Louvre and Tuileries and the Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain.

For the mechanics of city tickets, the Navigo card and the Paris Visite pass, the Paris metro tickets and Navigo guide covers it in full; this page focuses on what the RER itself does and how to use it without confusion.

Visitors coming from a city with a single unified subway network sometimes assume the RER is just a longer metro line with a different colour code. It is closer to a hybrid: part suburban express railway, part city metro, sharing tracks and sometimes rolling stock with SNCF’s wider regional network. That mix is exactly why it can feel more confusing on a first ride than the metro, even though the fare system has been simplified since January 2025.

The five lines, in plain terms

Île-de-France Mobilités, the regional transport authority, runs the RER alongside 16 metro lines, trams and buses. The five RER lines are labelled A through E:

Line	Broadly useful for
RER A	Crosses Paris east-west; branches reach Marne-la-Vallee - Chessy, the stop for Disneyland Paris
RER B	Crosses Paris north-south; links to Charles de Gaulle airport and to Orly via a connecting shuttle
RER C	Runs along the Left Bank through central Paris; branches reach Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche
RER D	North-south, largely a commuter line with less relevance for typical visitor trips
RER E	East-west, the newest line to be extended, mostly serving eastern suburbs and La Defense

Each line is operated jointly by RATP and SNCF, which is one reason the RER feels different from the purely RATP-run metro: trains can be longer, seating varies between train models, and announcements sometimes reflect a regional SNCF service rather than a pure metro one.

Why the RER is not the metro

Three differences matter in practice. First, spacing: RER stations inside Paris are set kilometres apart rather than the few hundred metres typical of the metro, so a RER journey across the city can genuinely be faster, but only between the right pair of stops.

Second, the trains keep going. Once past the last central Paris stop, an RER train continues into the suburbs and eventually out toward its terminus, which might be an airport, a chateau town, or an ordinary commuter suburb with nothing of interest to a visitor. Staying on past your stop is a common and avoidable mistake.

Third, and most important: branches. A single RER line splits into two, three or more branches once outside the centre, each ending at a different town. The platform display and the train’s own indicator board show the calling pattern and final destination before departure. Checking that the branch matches your destination, not just the line letter, is essential — boarding “an RER B train” is not enough; it needs to be the right RER B train.

Inside Paris, the metro remains simpler for short trips: the Paris metro guide explains the 16 lines and how to navigate the network for city sightseeing.

Airports: RER B and the connections beyond it

RER B is the line most visitors actually ride. It connects central Paris — Gare du Nord and Chatelet-Les Halles among the useful stops — directly to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), roughly 25 km to the north-east. It is usually the fastest way into the centre from CDG, though it shares track with regional trains and can see delays.

RER B does not go directly to Paris Orly (ORY), about 13-14 km south of the city. Since June 2024, metro line 14 reaches Orly directly, and Orlyval, an automated shuttle, connects Orly to RER B at Antony for those coming from that direction instead. Full door-to-door directions, including which option suits which starting point, are in the CDG airport to Paris city centre and Orly airport to Paris city centre guides. Paris Beauvais (BVA), about 85 km north and used mainly by low-cost carriers, is not served by the RER at all; it connects to Paris by a shuttle bus to Porte Maillot, covered in the Beauvais airport to Paris guide.

Versailles and other day trips by RER

RER C serves Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche, the station closest to the Chateau de Versailles, and is the route most visitors use for that day trip. Trains from Paris can also reach Versailles from Gare Saint-Lazare or Gare Montparnasse on separate SNCF lines rather than the RER, which is one of the small details worth getting right before travelling. The step-by-step route, timing and station layout are covered fully in how to get to Versailles from Paris; this page is only flagging that RER C is the relevant line.

Destinations further out — the chateaux of the Loire Valley, the Champagne region around Reims and Epernay, or the Mont-Saint-Michel — are not reached by RER at all. Those trips use mainline SNCF or high-speed TGV services from Paris’s larger train stations, usually as part of an organised excursion given the distances involved. The Paris train stations guide is the place to understand which station serves which region.

For a day exploring central Paris itself rather than heading out to the suburbs, a guided option such as the guided city tour by three-wheeled Can-Am vehicle covers ground quickly without needing to plan any RER connections at all.

Île-de-France day trips the RER does not reach

Not every day trip outside Paris runs on the RER. Several of the region’s most visited destinations sit on ordinary SNCF suburban or regional lines departing from Paris’s mainline stations rather than on one of the five RER lines. Giverny and Monet’s gardens, the chateau town of Fontainebleau, the cathedral city of Chartres, the racecourse and chateau at Chantilly, the artists’ village of Auvers-sur-Oise and the medieval walled town of Provins are all reached this way.

The practical difference for a visitor is small — a train is a train — but it matters when planning a route: these trips start at a mainline station such as Gare Saint-Lazare, Gare de Lyon or Gare du Nord, not at an RER platform, so checking the departure station in advance avoids a wasted trip across the city. The Giverny day trip guide covers the specific stations and connections for that route, and the same logic applies to the others.

Using the RER with luggage or limited mobility

RER trains are not uniformly accessible. Older rolling stock on some lines and branches still requires climbing steps to board, and not every station along a branch has a lift or level access to the platform, unlike the newer sections of the network. Anyone travelling with heavy luggage, a stroller or a wheelchair should check the specific station and line in advance rather than assume step-free access, particularly for airport journeys on RER B where suitcases are the norm rather than the exception. The Paris metro with a wheelchair or stroller guide covers accessibility across both the metro and RER networks in more detail, and the Paris airport transfers guide lays out alternatives for those who would rather avoid trains with luggage altogether.

Tickets: the same system as the metro, since January 2025

Since the January 2025 fare reform, Île-de-France Mobilités sells two single tickets: the Metro-Train-RER ticket and the Bus-Tram ticket, both loaded onto a Navigo Easy card or a phone. For journeys that stay within Paris, the Metro-Train-RER ticket covers the RER exactly as it covers the metro — there is no separate RER ticket to buy for a trip that starts and ends inside the city.

The distinction that trips visitors up is distance. A journey to CDG, or well out into the suburbs beyond Paris, is priced for that longer distance rather than the flat single-city fare, and needs a ticket bought for that specific trip. A weekly Navigo pass (Monday to Sunday) or a Paris Visite pass, both aimed at multi-day stays, can also cover RER travel depending on the zones selected. None of the fares are repeated here in detail — the Paris metro tickets and Navigo guide is the single place that covers ticket types, and this page will not duplicate it.

There is no seat reservation on the RER; boarding is turn-up-and-go, unlike the high-speed TGV trains used for some longer excursions such as to the Loire Valley or Champagne, which do require a booked seat in advance.

Pickpockets on the RER, especially line B

The Paris scams and pickpockets guide already flags the RER B corridor to and from CDG as one of the city’s more active pickpocketing spots, alongside metro line 1 and the crowds around the Eiffel Tower and Louvre. The reasons are practical: RER B carries a steady flow of travellers with luggage, often distracted or unfamiliar with the system, on a train that gets genuinely crowded at peak times.

The precautions are the same as anywhere else in the city — keep bags closed and where you can see them, be especially alert getting on and off at busy stations, and treat unsolicited help with luggage or directions with a polite no. None of this should discourage taking RER B; it is simply the practical route to the airport, used by residents every day.

Crossing Paris on the RER instead of the metro

Occasionally the RER genuinely is the quicker way across the city, not just out of it. Because RER trains run express through parts of central Paris, a trip between two stations that both sit directly on the same RER line can beat a multi-change metro route, particularly north-south on RER B or east-west on RER A. This is worth knowing but not worth planning around: for most sightseeing between neighbourhoods such as Le Marais, Montmartre or the Ile de la Cite and Notre-Dame, the metro remains the simpler, more frequent option, and the Paris metro guide is the better starting point.

For a broader sense of how the RER, metro, trams and buses all fit together under Île-de-France Mobilités, the [Paris RER and trains guide] pairs with the Paris metro guide and the taxis and ride-hailing in Paris guide for those who prefer not to navigate trains at all. A walking-focused alternative for exploring the centre, such as the walking tour with a local guide, sidesteps the transport question for that day entirely, as does a guided bike tour that covers several neighbourhoods without a single train change.

Frequently asked questions about the Paris RER

How many RER lines are there in Paris?

There are 5 RER lines, labelled A, B, C, D and E, run jointly by RATP and SNCF under Île-de-France Mobilités. Each line splits into several branches once it leaves central Paris, so checking the branch and final stop before boarding matters more than on the metro.

Which RER line goes to Charles de Gaulle airport?

RER B connects central Paris (Gare du Nord, Chatelet-Les Halles) to Charles de Gaulle airport. It also serves Orly indirectly via a connecting shuttle. Full step-by-step directions are covered in the dedicated CDG airport guide.

Can I use my metro ticket on the RER?

Within Paris, yes: since the January 2025 fare reform, the same Metro-Train-RER ticket covers metro, RER and regional trains inside the city. Trips that continue beyond Paris, such as to the airports or Versailles, need a ticket priced for that full distance rather than the flat city fare.

Is the RER safe, especially RER B?

The RER is used daily by millions of commuters and is generally safe, but RER B in particular sees frequent pickpocketing, especially on crowded carriages heading to or from the airport. Keep bags closed and in front of you and stay alert around doors.

Do RER trains stop at every station?

No. Unlike the metro, RER trains often run express through central segments, skipping some stations, and different branches serve different outer suburbs. The screen on the platform and the train itself show the calling pattern before you board.

How is the RER different from a regional SNCF train (Transilien)?

The RER (lines A-E) is jointly operated and integrated with the metro fare zones for city trips, while Transilien lines are a separate SNCF suburban network with their own numbering. Visitors mostly need the RER; Transilien matters mainly for a handful of specific day-trip departures from mainline stations.

Do I need to reserve a seat on the RER?

No. RER trains are turn-up-and-go with no seat reservation, unlike high-speed TGV trains to places such as the Loire Valley or Reims, which do require a booked seat.