French Motorail has cut prices on its midweek departures this summer to encourage more first-time users to take their car to southern France by train.

The new off-peak fares, for Monday to Wednesday departures, are up to 15 per cent cheaper than last year. A one-way fare from Calais to Brive, gateway to the Dordogne, for a car and up to six people travelling between 3 and 14 June, now leads in at £219. Reduced fares will also be available on Motorail routes from Calais to Avignon, Nice, Toulouse and Narbonne.

There are no plans to resume Motorail services to Italy this summer. The company's Italian routes were axed last summer because of a shortage of suitable rolling stock.

Passengers wishing to take their car to Italy by rail must now disembark at Nice and drive across the border.