Migrants looking to reach the UK can now effectively hitch a cut-price ride right from Marseille to Calais -- as long as they turn up in large numbers and cause enough of a scene.
SNCF sent an internal memo to staff telling them to hand out "zero-euro bookings" to gangs of migrants who turn up at stations without tickets.
It is feared that the move will lead to a huge migrant rush to reach Britain, with the Channel Tunnel now just a comfortable rail journey away for tens of thousands of people currently stranded in southern Europe.
Opponents have blasted the plan as a "disgrace" and warned it will simply lead to a huge influx of people into Calais' crime-ridden migrant camps.
Once there they could be among the thousands who make nightly bids to reach Britain, breaking into Dover-bound lorries and smashing down security fences around the Channel Tunnel entrance.
The new policy represents a total u-turn by French authorities, which have previously concentrated on ejecting ticketless migrants from carriages and train stations.
It is commonplace in cities such as the capital Paris and Marseille for large gangs of young men to flood platforms and try to break into northbound trains unseen.
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