Does “Optimum” mean anything to you? This is the new SNCF class open to everyone… except children. Intended for business travelers, it guarantees a “quiet space on board”A “maximum comfort” And “a limited number of passengers”, thanks to the exclusion of children under 12 years old. And if this “premium” service already existed on certain TGV INOUI, this announcement still made many French people jump. A psychologist deciphers what this offer reveals, which is part of the growing trend of “no kids”.
The “no kids” offer outrages many passengers and associations
Since the beginning of January, SNCF Voyageurs has offered the Optimum Plus option on the Paris-Lyon TGVs. As its name suggests, this is an “optimized” space where children under 12 are not accepted for “ensure optimal comfort” to workers. A total of 39 places are available on board, bookable only from Monday to Friday. But this “zen” offer is not to everyone’s taste: it has even aroused the indignation of many political figures and associations.
“When we give the feeling that the comfort of adults requires the absence of children, it is shocking“, exclaims Sarah El Haïry, High Commissioner for Children. The former Minister Delegate in charge of Children, Youth and Families regrets this one-sided offer.”If we offer an Optimum offer, where is the kids-friendly offer? Where are the wagons with wider aisles? Play spaces designed for children? Where is the really suitable storage space for strollers or family luggage?”
Same refrain for the children’s collective, ““calm” does not justify exclusion. Adultism is not common sense: it is discrimination”.
For their part, on X, Internet users try to play the humor card. “Do you think we’re going to have to put our children in the hold when we take the plane too?”“and “no delay” is it possible?”.
So many criticisms that the SNCF is trying to face: “No, children are not excluded from our TGVs. Our Optimum offer occupies less than 8% of the space of an INOUI TGV and from Monday to Friday only. Every year, a growing number of families travel aboard our TGV INOUI. Our trains are designed for everyone and we are committed to that”wrote the company on its Facebook account.
An offer that already existed
If this offer is debated – and questions the place we give to children in our collective lives – Maud R., SNCF controller, tells us that this concept… already existed: “This is simply the new “Business” class, which was already offered on certain morning and evening trains. It was aimed at travelers who used the TGV to go to work on short journeys, and was located in the upper part of a car. This is therefore not a new thing: l“the old “Business” class already served as a no-kids in disguise”, she relates.
“Knowing how to live together” in danger?
Also interviewed about this new offer, Pascal Anger, psychologist, said he was “worried”.
“This “No kids” offer is presented as a service like any other… a bit like the “sugar-free” or “gluten-free” mentions.“, he laments. And if it can improve the comfort of travelers, “it is time to rethink the way we travel as a family. Why not create friendly spaces accessible to everyone, including children?”
asks the expert.
The practitioner also protests against this French contradiction: “we cannot say “have children (the famous rearmament), but do not travel with them because they make noise“. Tomorrow, will there be a question of trains without elderly people? Or worse… without certain categories of travelers? This borders on discrimination. How far are we going to go?”
This “no-kids” trend is not new: since 2020, hotels reserved for adults, silent compartments in transport and restaurants without strollers have become popular, recalls the Adults of Tomorrow Podcast. But the fact of naming it publicly – “forbidden to children under 12” – is precisely what is shocking about this story. “What happens to knowing how to live together?” insists Pascal Anger.
“Rules and limits are necessary, and everyone must do their part. But a journey is never very long: yes, a baby cries and a child moves and talks, but all this brings joy and good humor. And small annoyances are also part of life. If we start to exclude everything, we will no longer support anyone. We already live in a violent world; it is essential to learn to live well together… and even to live better together”, reminds the practitioner.
An opinion also shared by Maud, the train sales service agent we interviewed: “in fact, it is more than time to accept children and give families the means to travel in good conditions”, she assures, before confiding “that small things have already been put in place, such as distributions during school holidays of coloring pages, Lego, books and model trains… but all this is still unfortunately insufficient.”
By ultimately excluding children for supposed noise pollution, we forget that their presence is a marker of life and an indicator of our ability to still leave room for living together.