Transport conditions offered to students

Trains

Students and people under the age of 26 can enjoy cheaper transport for their daily movements around the city and region, and for their occasional trips in France or abroad.

SNCF (French Railways) offers a "Carte Jeune" (Youth Card), which gives you a 25% reduction on train tickets and 50% on some trains according to availability. The card is valid for a year and will cost 49 € in 2007. You can buy one at SNCF stations or agencies (please supply a photo) or via the Internet www.12-25-sncf-com

Underground, Tramway, Buses

Transpole is responsible for public transport in the Lille metropolitan area. You can obtain up to a 50 % reduction on a weekly ticket if you are on a French government grant. If not, Transpole will give you a 25 % reduction with the VIVA card.

A single ticket costs 1.25 €, a book of 10 tickets = 10.30 € (2007 rate). The weekly ticket costs 8.40 € and the monthly ticket 30.75 €.

To benefit from a 20% reduction on books of tickets and 25 % on weekly and monthly tickets, you should buy the VIVA card from the "Espace Carte" at the République Beaux-Arts underground station.

www.transpole.fr

Bike hire

Bikes are the ideal way of getting around Lille and Villeneuve d'Ascq.
The "Decathlon Campus" store sells second-hand bikes.
There are cycle sheds near university halls of residence and at Polytech'Lille. If you simply want to go for a ride, you can hire a bike from the following addresses:

Ch'ti vélo Gare : 10 avenue Willy Brandt, Lille (face à Euralille) +33 (0) 328 530 749
Ch'ti vélo Fives : 148 rue Pierre Legrand, Lille (Métro Fives) +33 (0) 320 049 744
The bike centre at the Tourcoing Centre exchange stations offers the following services:
- Bike storage for Transpole cardholders or holders of a single ticket.
- Bike hire for any adult (subject to payment of a security deposit of 200 € and presentation of proof of identity).

The Interrail card

During your time at Polytech'Lille, if you want to travel round Europe, you can use the Interrail card. Europe is divided into 8 zones and the price of the card is calculated according to the number of zones you intend to travel through.

www.eurolibe.com/pages/interail.html

Eurolines

To visit the countries that interest you, departing from Lille, you can use the Eurolines coach service. The Eurolines network serves 26 countries and over 1500 European cities from 77 French towns. The Lille office is at 23 Parvis Saint Maurice, Lille Tel : 03 20 78 18 18. Eurolines' prices are generally 50 % below the cost of air travel and 25 % below the cost of rail travel.

OTU, CROUS' travel agency
CROUS address
74 rue de Cambrai, Lille
+33 (0) 320 886 612
www.otu.fr
OTU Voyages has been specifically set up to meet students' tourism and transport needs.

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