The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
's national
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, including the
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
, on France's high-speed rail network. Its functions include operation of railway services for passengers and freight (through its subsidiaries
SNCF Voyageurs
SNCF Voyageurs (English: ''SNCF Travelers)'' is a state-owned enterprise founded on 1 January 2020, an independent subsidiary of the French National Railway Company (SNCF), in charge of operating passenger trains.
Its predecessor is (partially) ...
and
Rail Logistics Europe
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
), as well as maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure (
SNCF Réseau
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
). The railway network consists of about of route, of which are high-speed lines and electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily.
In 2010 the SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the
Fortune Global 500
The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine.
Methodology
Until 1989, it listed onl ...
list. It is the main business of the SNCF Group, which in 2020 had €30 billion of sales in 120 countries. The SNCF Group employs more than 275,000 employees in France and around the world. Since July 2013, the SNCF Group headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2 Place aux Étoiles in Saint-Denis. The president of SNCF Group has been
Jean-Pierre Farandou
Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to:
People
* Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021-
* Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France
* Eugenia Pierre ( ...
since 2019.
Business scope
High-speed rail
SNCF operates almost all of France's railway traffic, including the
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
(''Train à Grande Vitesse'', meaning "high-speed train"). In the 1970s, the SNCF began the TGV high-speed train program with the intention of creating the world's fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981 with the completion of the first high-speed line
LGV Sud-Est
The LGV Sud-Est (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est''; English: ''South East high-speed line)'' is a French high-speed rail line which connects the Paris and Lyon areas. It was France's first high-speed rail line. The inauguration of th ...
("Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est", meaning "southeast high-speed line"), where the first TGV service, from
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, was inaugurated. In 2017, the national rail network owned by SNCF Réseau had 28,710 km (17,839 mi) of lines, 58% of which were electrified and 2,640 high-speed lines. Every day, the SNCF runs 15,000 commercial trains and transports more than 5 million passengers and more than 250,000 tonnes of goods. TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries.
The SNCF's TGV has set many world speed records, the most recent on 3 April 2007, when a new version of the TGV dubbed the V150 with larger wheels than the usual TGV, was able to cover more ground with each rotation and had a stronger engine, and broke the world speed record for conventional railway trains, reaching .
The SNCF has a remarkable safety record. After nearly 30 years in operation, SNCF's TGV system has only experienced one fatal accident, which occurred during pre-opening testing and not in regular operation.
United Kingdom
In 2011 SNCF in partnership with
Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
, unsuccessfully bid for the
InterCity West Coast
InterCity West Coast (ICWC) was a 1997–2019 railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester, Carlis ...
franchise. In April 2017 SNCF took a 30% shareholding in a joint venture with
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom.
History
Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...
and
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.
Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...
to bid for the
West Coast Partnership
The West Coast Partnership (WCP) is a railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML)(and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, Shropshire, North Wales, Liverpool, Mancheste ...
that will operate services on the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
from May 2020 and the
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
line from 2026.
In April 2019 Stagecoach were banned from bidding for any franchises including the West Coast Partnership which has meant that Virgin and SNCF have now had to withdraw from the shortlist.
SNCF operations
Since the 1990s, SNCF has been selling railway carriages to regional governments, with the creation of the Train Express Régional brand. SNCF also maintains a broad scope of
international business
International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale.
It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or more ...
that includes work on freight lines, inter-city lines and commuter lines. SNCF experts provide logistics, design, construction, operations and maintenance services. SNCF operates the international ticketing agency
Oui.sncf
SNCF Connect, formerly OUI.sncf until January 25, 2022, is a subsidiary of SNCF selling passes and point-to-point tickets for rail travel around Europe. It has commercial links to major European rail operators including SNCF, Eurostar, Deutsch ...
, formerly Voyages-sncf.com and Rail Europe.
SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting. Those projects include:
*
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
: Assistance and Training. SNCF International provides assistance to
Israel Railways
Israel Railways Ltd. , dba Israel Railways ( he, רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Rakevet Yisra'el''), is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Isr ...
in every area of rail operations including projects to upgrade the network's general safety regulations. Other assistance and training programmes involve Infrastructure and the Traction Division.
*
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
: Operations Training. SNCF supervised the prime contractor responsible for construction of the Taiwan Railways Administration's main high-speed rail line. It also trained rail traffic controllers, drivers, and crew members. On behalf of the Government of Taiwan, SNCF managed the high-speed railway Command Control Centre.
*
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
: Maintenance. In 2007–2008, SNCF-International consultants audited the maintenance practices applied to the track, signalling and overhead electric power line on British high-speed rail lines connecting London to the
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
. In addition, it conducted an audit of the maintainer's performance from the service quality and cost control standpoint, made recommendations for improvements, and proposed a three-year Business Plan.
*
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
: HSR Electrification Design. SNCF advised Korean Railroads on the electrification of tracks between Daegu and Busan and on linking existing conventional tracks to the new high-speed line. SNCF also assisted in selecting and inspecting high-speed
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
and trained 400 senior manager, engineers, and executives in a broad range of skills, including signalling, catenaries, track, rolling stock maintenance, HSR operation, safety management, marketing, and passenger information systems. Until the end of 2009, SNCF assisted Korea in maintaining its high-speed.
*
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
: Signalling System. SNCF partnered with ADIF (Spanish railway infrastructure provider) in the study, supply, installation, and maintenance of the standard EU railway signaling system along the Madrid-Lleida high-speed line. On behalf of the Spanish Government, SNCF designed and led maintenance operations on this line over a two-year period.
*
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
: Lead Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Maintainer – The SNCF maintains of track, 26,500 main sets of points and crossings, 2,300 signal boxes, 80,000 track circuits, over 1 million relays, etc. It also maintains 3,900 locomotives and 500 high-speed trains. Each of SNCF's TGV trains travels more than a month – enough to circle the globe. Each year SNCF's Human Resources Department provides over 1.2 million hours of training to its over 25,000 employees.
*Apart from these network of countries, It has the potential to expand its network to Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain etc.
History
SNCF was formed in 1938 with the
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of France's main railway companies (''Chemin de fer'', literally, 'way of iron', means railway). These were the:
*
Chemins de fer de l'Est
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early French railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by the merger of ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Strasbourg'', ope ...
(Est, ''Eastern Railways'')
*
Chemins de fer de l'État
The Chemins de fer de l'État ("State Railways"), often referred to in France as the Réseau de l'État ("State Network"), was an early state-owned French railway company.
History
The company was established by state order of the Third Republ ...
(État, ''State Railways''; merged in 1908 with the
Chemins de fer de l'Ouest
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest (CF de l'Ouest), often referred to simply as ''L'Ouest'' or ''Ouest'', was an early French railway company which operated from the years 1855 through 1909.
History
Birth of the company
The Compa ...
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée ("Railway Company of Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean"), also known as the Chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée or simply PLM, established in 1857, was one of Fran ...
(PLM, ''Paris, Lyon and Mediterranean Railways)''
*
Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi
The Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi, often abbreviated to PO-Midi, was an early French railway company. It was formed in 1934 following the merging of the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans and the Chemins de fer du Midi.
In 1937 i ...
(''Paris, Orléans, and Southern Railways''; PO-Midi, formed in 1934 from the merger of the
Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans
Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire
* ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo
** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...
and the
Chemins de fer du Midi
The Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi (. CF du Midi), also known in English as the Midi or Southern Railway, was an early French railway company which operated a network of routes in the southwest of the country, chiefly in the area between i ...
)
*
Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine
The Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine or AL (English: Alsace and Lorraine Railways) was a rail transport administration created on 19 June 1919.
On 1 January 1938, the Alsace and Lorraine Railways were nationalised, as w ...
(AL, ''Alsace-Lorraine Railways'')
* Syndicats du Chemin de fer de Grande Ceinture et de
Petite Ceinture
Paris' former Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture ('small(er) belt railway'), also colloquially known as ''La Petite Ceinture'', was a circular railway built as a means to supply the city's fortification walls, and as a means of transporting merch ...
(''Great and Little Belt Railways'') in Paris and its suburbs.
The French state originally took 51% ownership of SNCF and invested large amounts of public subsidies into the system. Today, SNCF is wholly owned by the French state.
World War II
Following the 1940 Armistice and until August 1944, SNCF was requisitioned for the transport of German armed forces and armaments. The invading German troops were responsible for the destruction of nearly 350 French railway bridges and tunnels. According to differing estimates, SNCF surrendered between 125,000 and 213,000 wagons and 1,000-2,000 locomotives.
France's railway infrastructure and rolling stocks were a target for the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
aimed at disrupting and fighting the German occupying forces. This allowed SNCF employees to perform many acts of resistance, including the formation of the
Résistance-Fer
''Résistance-Fer'' ( French; Railway-Resistance, or "Iron-Resistance") was a French Resistance group against the German occupation of France during the Second World War.
This specific movement was essentially composed of French railway workers f ...
movement in 1943. Nearly 1,700 SNCF railway workers were killed or deported for resisting
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
orders. 150 Résistance-Fer agents were shot for their acts of resistance, 500 of them were deported. Half of those deported died in concentration camps.
German occupying forces in France also requisitioned SNCF to transport nearly 77,000 Jews and other Holocaust victims to Nazi
extermination camp
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
s. These deportations have been the subject of historical controversy and lawsuits (such as the Lipietz case) in France as well as in the United States (where subsidiary
Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
is a transportation contractor) to the present day.
In 1992 SNCF commissioned French academics to write a history of SNCF activities during World War II. The resultant report was published in 1996.
More recently, some sources have claimed that SNCF billed Nazi-occupied France for third-class tickets for Holocaust victims transported to extermination camps, although passengers were transported in cattle cars. Other sources have reported that after the
liberation of France
The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...
SNCF continued to seek payment for transporting Holocaust victims to Germany. However, historian
Michael Marrus
Michael Robert Marrus (1941–2022) was a Canadian historian of the Holocaust, modern European and Jewish history and international humanitarian law. He is the author of eight books on the Holocaust and related subjects.
Overview
Marrus (1941–2 ...
has written that claims that SNCF billed for third-class tickets and continued to seek payment after the war ended were made as part of a legal case brought against SNCF, and did not match with historians' understanding of what happened. Marrus argues that SNCF had no margin of maneuver during the German occupation and that the actions of SNCF employees were not ideologically motivated. According to
Serge Klarsfeld
Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notab ...
, president of the organization
Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France The Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France (') is a French association of descendants of Jews deported from or displaced in France during the Nazi German occupation of France (19401944), during the Holocaust. Serge Klarsfeldan academic ...
, SNCF was forced by German and Vichy authorities to cooperate in providing transport for French Jews to the border and did not make any profit from this transport.
In December 2014, SNCF agreed to pay up to $60 million worth of compensation to Holocaust survivors in the United States. It corresponds to approximately $100,000 per survivor.
Modern era
In the early 2000s, SNCF sought to get a contract from the state of California for a bullet train project between Los Angeles and San Francisco. SNCF recommended that the train take the most direct route between the two locations to reduce the complexity and cost of the project, but the SNCF's recommendations were cast aside by California politicians who wanted to divert the train through various communities, raising the cost and complexity of the project, as well as the expected travel time. SNCF pulled out of the project in 2011 and went to Morocco to help the country construct a bullet train service. By 2018, Morocco's bullet train started service while the California bullet train project was not close to being operational in 2022, with some saying that the project would never be completed.
In May 2014, the company had discovered that 2,000 new trains they ordered at a cost of 15 billion euros are too wide for many of France's regional platforms. Construction work has started to reconfigure them.
On 1 January 2015,
Réseau ferré de France
Réseau ferré de France (RFF, french: French Rail Network) was a French company which owned and maintained the France, French national railway network from 1997 to 2014. The company was formed with the rail assets of SNCF in 1997. Afterwards, t ...
(RFF) merged with
SNCF Infra
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail tra ...
and the Direction de la circulation ferroviaire (DCF) and became ''
SNCF Réseau
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
'', the operational assets of SNCF became ''
SNCF Mobilités
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
'', and both groups were placed under the control of SNCF.
Design
The industrial designer
Paul Arzens
Paul Arzens (28 August 1903 – 2 February 1990) was a French industrial designer of railway locomotives and motor cars.
Arzens was born in Paris, at an address along the on the northern side of the city. As a young man he studied at the ...
styled many of SNCF's locomotives from the 1940s until the 1970s. A particularly distinctive type is the "broken nose" style of electric and diesel locomotives.
Air Austral
Air Austral is a French airline, based at the Roland Garros Airport, in the Indian Ocean. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to metropolitan France, South Africa, Thailand, India and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The c ...
,
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
,
Air Tahiti Nui
Air Tahiti Nui is the flag carrier of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia, with its head office in Papeete and its daily operations office in Faaa, Tahiti. It operates long-haul flights from its home base at Faa'a International ...
,
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
,
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
,
Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...
,
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
,
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
, and
SriLankan Airlines
SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched i ...
. In exchange, SNCF allows passengers on these flights to book railway services between
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
) and
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
,
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
,
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
,
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
,
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
,
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
,
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
,
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
,
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
,
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
,
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
designator used by airlines in connection with these journeys is 2C.
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Continental started o ...
discontinued its codeshare with SNCF on 15 August 2010.
Company structure
Headquarters
Until 1999, the SNCF's historic headquarters was located at 88
Rue Saint-Lazare
The Rue Saint-Lazare is a street in the 8th and 9th arrondissements of Paris, France. It starts at 9 Rue Bourdaloue and 1 Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and ends at Place Gabriel-Péri and Rue de Rome.
History
This street already existed in 1700 unde ...
in the 9th arrondissement. In 1996 the chairman of SNCF, Louis Gallois, announced that SNCF would move its headquarters to a new location during the middle of 1997.
From 1999 to 2013, SNCF's headquarters were located in the
Montparnasse
Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...
neighborhood of the
14th arrondissement of Paris
The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...
,Legal information " SNCF. Retrieved on 24 October 2013. located near the
Gare Montparnasse
Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements.
The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to ...
. '' Les Echos''. 20 May 1999. Page 54. Retrieved on 1 May 2010. "Pari tenu : réceptionné le 19 mars par Bouygues Immobilier et livré à son occupant dix jours plus tard, le nouveau siège de la SNCF est sorti de la gangue du grand ensemble de la gare Montparnasse, dans le 14e arrondissement de Paris, en quinze mois d'un chantier intense qui a mobilisé sur place jusqu'à 650 personnes. Quelque 800 postes de travail sont concernés sur les 2.500 qui gravitaient hier autour du siège historique de Saint-Lazare (9e arrondissement), consacrant la partition entre une direction générale resserrée et des services centraux pléthoriques."
Since July 2013, the SNCF headquarters are located in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis at 2, place aux Étoiles, 93200 Saint Denis. The move was motivated by cutting operating costs by 10 million euros per year.
Divisions
Since 1 January 2020 SNCF is a state-owned group consisting of a parent company (SNCF) with several independently operated subsidiaries:
*
SNCF Réseau
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
(English: ''SNCF Network'') - State-owned
railway infrastructure manager A railway infrastructure manager is "any body or undertaking that is responsible in particular for establishing and maintaining railway infrastructure. This may also include the management of infrastructure control and safety systems. The functions ...
SNCF Réseau
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
subsidiary responsible for the maintenance and renovation of the 3,000 stations on the French rail network ;
*
SNCF Voyageurs
SNCF Voyageurs (English: ''SNCF Travelers)'' is a state-owned enterprise founded on 1 January 2020, an independent subsidiary of the French National Railway Company (SNCF), in charge of operating passenger trains.
Its predecessor is (partially) ...
(English: ''SNCF Travelers'') - State-owned enterprise that operates trains in France and Europe, including the flagship TGV inOui service, along with the low cost
Ouigo
Ouigo () is a French low-cost service range of both conventional and high-speed trains. The literal translation of ''Ouigo'' from French to English is "yes go;" the name is also a play on words with the English homonym "we go." It is composed o ...
TGV service,
Intercités
Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France.
SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...
traditional long-distance services, and
TER
Ter or TER may refer to:
Places
* River Ter, in Essex, England
* Ter (river), in Catalonia
* Ter (department), a region in France
* Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy
* Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...
and
Transilien
Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail network serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of eight lines: Transilien Line H, H, Transilien Line J, J, Transilien Line ...
Rolling highway
In rail transportation, a rolling highway or rolling road is a form of combined transport involving the conveying of road trucks by rail, referred to as Ro-La trains. The concept is a form of piggyback transportation.
The technical challeng ...
;
** Naviland Cargo ;
** Forwardis,
freight forwarder
A freight forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company who, for a fee organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution.
;
* Geodis (98.4% owned by SNCF) - Private company that runs freight transportation logistics ;
*
Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
(70% owned by SNCF) - Private public transport operator that runs services in cities across the world including bus, metro, light rail, rental bikes, carparks, cable cars and airport services.
Subsidiaries
SNCF has full or partial shares in a large number of companies, the majority of which are rail or transport related. These include:
*
ERMEWA
SNCF Logistics was the division of the SNCF group responsible for freight transportation and logistics.
The division included the activities of: Geodis (and subsidiaries), general land transport and logistics; Fret SNCF the national rail freight ...
(100%)
* France Wagons (100%)
* SGW : Société de Gérance de Wagons (67.5%)
* CTC : Compagnie des Transports Céréaliers (69.36%)
* SEGI (98.96%)
* Naviland Cargo (94.37%) previously CNC Transports, Compagnie Nouvelle de Conteneurs.
''General freight transport'':
:* C-
Modalohr
The Lohr Railway System or Modalohr System (french: Système Modalohr) uses special railway wagons of a type known as piggyback wagons, to carry standard road semi-trailers on the European rail network.Thalys International (70%)
:*
Keolis
Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services.
Based ...
(70%)
:*
Govia
Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
History
Establis ...
(24.5%)
:*
Ouigo
Ouigo () is a French low-cost service range of both conventional and high-speed trains. The literal translation of ''Ouigo'' from French to English is "yes go;" the name is also a play on words with the English homonym "we go." It is composed o ...
(100%)
:*
Ouigo España
Ouigo España is an open-access operator, that operates high-speed services between Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. It is a subsidiary of SNCF, the French national railway company, and uses its trademark Ouigo.
History
The company was founded o ...
(100%)
''Tickets''
:*
SNCF Connect
SNCF Connect, formerly OUI.sncf until January 25, 2022, is a subsidiary of SNCF selling passes and point-to-point tickets for rail travel around Europe. It has commercial links to major European rail operators including SNCF, Eurostar, Deutsche ...
''(formerly oui.sncf)'' (50.1%), the on-line travel agency of SNCF
:* Rail Europe, Inc. (50%) Bought from
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
.
:* GLe-trade
''Consulting''
:* AREP (99.99%)
:* SNCF International (100%)
:* Inexia
:* Systra (35.87%): engineering for public transport
''Housing''
:* ICF Habitat Novedis (100%): rental housing (social and private housing)
Company image
According to a TNS SOFRES survey published in 2010, 66% of French people have a good image of SNCF. At the end of 2019, this proportion was measured at 50% by the Posternak-Ifop barometer on the image of companies. In 2020, Eight Advisory and IFOP unveil their ranking of the "most admired French companies": SNCF is in 23rd position.
Safety on trains is also often a priority. To do this, around 2,800 railway workers form the Railway Security, the general supervision of SNCF, of which 50% of the workforce is assigned to the Île-de-France region.
Furthermore, the experts of the BCG, Boston Consulting Group , use to compare the rail systems in 25 European countries. They rank
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in tied 4th position (with Germany, Austria and Sweden), behind Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. The criteria are : the utilization rate, quality of service and safety.
Visual and sound identity
Logotype
SNCF's current visual logo was created in 2005 by the Carré Noir agency, a subsidiary of the Publicis Groupe, Publicis communication group. It was slightly reworked in 2011: rounded corners, disappearance of shadows inside the letters as well as behind, and a clearer separation between them.
Sound Identity
The SNCF sound logo - the four notes C - G - A flat - E flat -, in a sung version, was created in 2005 by Michaël Boumendil. David Gilmour, guitarist of the group Pink Floyd, used the jingle as the inspiration for the title track of his 2015 album ''Rattle That Lock''. Simone Hérault has been the voice of SNCF since 1981
Culture
Cinema
Since the Auguste and Louis Lumière's first film, SNCF has been the company that hosts the most film shoots in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, between 50 and 60 shoots per year, which represents around two thirds of French productions. A selection of iconic films where SNCF is at the heart of the matter include:
* Mr. Bean's Holiday
* Mission: Impossible
* The Tourist (2010 film), The Tourist
* Hugo Cabret (Hugo (film), Hugo)
TV Show
* Killing Eve
See also
* Autorité de Régulation des Activités Ferroviaires
* Corail (train)
* Dirigisme
* History of rail transport in France
* List of French companies
* List of SNCF classes, List of SNCF locomotive and multiple-unit classes
* List of SNCF stations
* Transport express régional
* Transport in France
References
External links
Website of SNCF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sncf
SNCF,
Eurostar
Railteam
Government-owned companies of France
Railway companies of France
Rail transport in France
French companies established in 1938
Railway companies established in 1938
French brands