SNCF#Divisions

File:TGV Duplex Figueres.jpg from the SNCF]]

Image:TGV World Speed Record 574 km per hour.jpg reaching {{convert|574|km/h|abbr=on}} on 3 April 2007 near Le Chemin]]

SNCF operates almost all of France's railway traffic, including the TGV (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 ("Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est", meaning "southeast high-speed line"), where the first TGV service, from Paris to Lyon, 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.{{Cite web |last=L'observatoire des transports et de la mobilité |title=Le marché français du transport ferroviaire de voyageurs |url=https://www.autorite-transports.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/bilan_ferroviaire_2017_internet.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.autorite-transports.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/bilan_ferroviaire_2017_internet.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} 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 {{convert|18600|kW|hp|adj=on|abbr=off}} engine, and broke the world speed record for conventional railway trains, reaching {{convert|574.8|km/h|abbr=on}}.

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.

In 2011 SNCF in partnership with Keolis, unsuccessfully bid for the InterCity West Coast franchise.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130606094818/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/intercity-west-coast-franchise/franchisebidders.pdf Shortlisted Bidders for Greater Anglia and Intercity West Coast Rail Franchises]}} Department for Transport 24 March 2011 In April 2017 SNCF took a 30% shareholding in a joint venture with Stagecoach Group and Virgin Group to bid for the West Coast Partnership that will operate services on the West Coast Main Line from May 2020 and the High Speed 2 line from 2026.[http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2017/2017-04-25.aspx Stagecoach and Virgin to join forces with SNCF for West Coast Partnership Bid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427095924/http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2017/2017-04-25.aspx |date=27 April 2017 }} Stagecoach 25 July 2017[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/stagecoach-and-sncf-lead-virgin-branded-bid-for-hs2-operations.html Stagecoach and SNCF lead Virgin-branded bid for HS2 operations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425162718/http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/stagecoach-and-sncf-lead-virgin-branded-bid-for-hs2-operations.html |date=25 April 2017 }} Railway Gazette International 25 July 2017

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.

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 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 SNCF Connect, formerly oui.sncf/Voyages-sncf.com and Rail Europe, previously Loco 2.

SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting. Those projects include

• Israel: Assistance and Training. SNCF International provides assistance to Israel Railways 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: 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: 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. 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: 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 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: 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: Lead Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Maintainer – The SNCF maintains {{convert|32,000|km|mi|abbr=on}} 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 {{convert|39,000|km|mi|abbr=on}} 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.
• Morocco: Design, construction and operations for the Al Boraq bullet train service between Tangier and Casablanca

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File:BB67484-Amiens.JPG diesel locomotive at Amiens station]]

SNCF was formed in 1938 with the nationalisation of France's main railway companies (Chemin de fer, literally, 'way of iron', means railway). These were the:

• Chemins de fer de l'Est (Est, Eastern Railways)
• Chemins de fer de l'État (État, State Railways; merged in 1908 with the Chemins de fer de l'Ouest, Western Railways)
• Chemins de fer du Nord (Nord, Northern Railways)
• Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM, Paris, Lyon and Mediterranean Railways)
• Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi (Paris, Orléans and Southern Railways; PO-Midi, formed in 1934 from the merger of the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans and the Chemins de fer du Midi)
• Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine (AL, Alsace-Lorraine Railways)
• Syndicats du Chemin de fer de Grande Ceinture et de Petite Ceinture (Great and Small 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.

{{See also|French resistance#Sabotage|Holocaust train#France}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsoftransp0000jone |title=The Politics of Transport in Twentieth-Century France |publisher=McGill Queens University Press |year=1984 |isbn=0773504281 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicsoftransp0000jone/page/n134 115]–116 |quote=SNCF railway transporting german troops. |access-date=1 November 2012 |url-access=registration}}{{Cite book |last=Mierzejewski |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gY_o6_7TP98C&q=SNCF+railway+transporting+german+troops&pg=PA83 |title=The Most Valuable Asset of the Reich: A History of the German National Railway Volume 2, 1933–1945 |publisher=The university of North Carolina Press |year=2000 |isbn=0807825743 |page=84 |access-date=1 November 2012 |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527003241/https://books.google.com/books?id=gY_o6_7TP98C&q=SNCF+railway+transporting+german+troops&pg=PA83#v=snippet&q=SNCF%20railway%20transporting%20german%20troops&f=false |url-status=live }}

File:Gare de Carpentras - quai.JPG train in Carpentras]]

France's railway infrastructure and rolling stocks were a target for the French Resistance aimed at disrupting and fighting the German occupying forces.{{Cite journal |last=Ribeill |first=Georges |date=2002–2003 |title=Obstétrique de guerre: Le cas de la SNCF (1939–1945) |url=http://www.utbm.fr/media/pem/LivreNum_LesCahiersDeRECITSn2.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Les Cahiers de Recits, Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Choix Industriels, Technologiques et Scientifiques |language=fr |location=Belfort-Montbéliard |publisher=Université de Technologie Belfort-Montbéliard |volume=2 |pages=49–61 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501043038/http://www.utbm.fr/media/pem/LivreNum_LesCahiersDeRECITSn2.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2015 |access-date=9 January 2012 |df=dmy-all}}{{Cite book |last1=Christofferson |first1=Thomas |title=France during World War II: From Defeat to Liberation |last2=Christofferson |first2=Michael |publisher=Fordham University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8232-2563-7 |location=New York}} This allowed SNCF employees to perform many acts of resistance,{{Cite book |last=Durand |first=Paul |title=La SNCF pendant la guerre, sa résistance à l'occupant |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France |year=1968 |location=Paris}} including the formation of the Résistance-Fer movement in 1943. Nearly 1,700 SNCF railway workers were killed or deported for resisting Nazi orders.{{Cite news |last=Lombard |first=Marie-Amélie |date=25 January 2011 |title=Shoah : les "regrets" de la SNCF |work=Le Figaro |location=France |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2011/01/24/01016-20110124ARTFIG00734-shoah-les-regrets-de-la-sncf.php |access-date=31 January 2010 |archive-date=26 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126182837/http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2011/01/24/01016-20110124ARTFIG00734-shoah-les-regrets-de-la-sncf.php |url-status=live }} 150 Résistance-Fer agents were shot for their acts of resistance, 500 of them were deported. Half of those deported died in concentration camps.{{Cite journal |last=Ribeill |first=Georges |year=2006 |title=Résistance-Fer, du " réseau " à l'association |journal=Revue d'histoire des chemins de fer |volume=34 |pages=53–73 |doi=10.4000/rhcf.534 |doi-access=free}}

German occupying forces in France also requisitioned SNCF to transport nearly 77,000 Jews and other Holocaust victims to Nazi extermination camps.{{Cite news |last=Shaver |first=Katherine |date=7 July 2010 |title=Holocaust group faults VRE contract |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/06/AR2010070605169.html |access-date=7 July 2010 |issn=0740-5421 |archive-date=31 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331071237/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/06/AR2010070605169.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Marrus |first=Michael R. |title=Holocaust and Justice |publisher=Berghahn Books |year=2011 |isbn=978-9-65308-353-0 |editor-last=Bankier |editor-first=David |chapter=Chapter 12 The Case of the French Railways and the Deportation of Jews in 1944 |editor-last2=Michman |editor-first2=Dan}} 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 is a transportation contractor) to the present day.{{Cite news |last=Baume |first=Maïa De La |date=25 January 2011 |title=French Railway Formally Apologizes to Holocaust Victims |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/world/europe/26france.html |access-date=26 October 2012 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330165147/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/world/europe/26france.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=CBC News |date=7 June 2006 |title=French railway must pay for transporting family to Nazis |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/french-railway-must-pay-for-transporting-family-to-nazis-1.575679 |access-date=9 June 2006 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205941/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/french-railway-must-pay-for-transporting-family-to-nazis-1.575679 |url-status=live }}

In 1992 SNCF commissioned French academics to write a history of SNCF activities during World War II. The resultant report was published in 1996.{{Cite web|title=Faciliter la recherche historique|url=http://39-45.sncf.com/content.php?id=2&deploy=2|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202172513/http://39-45.sncf.com/content.php?id=2&deploy=2|archive-date=2 February 2013|publisher=SNCF|language=FR|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=20 May 2011 |title=U.S. bill requires French rail company to disclose 'truth' of its Holocaust role |work=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/u-s-bill-requires-french-rail-company-to-disclose-truth-of-its-holocaust-role-1.362955 |access-date=28 September 2012 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219114159/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/u-s-bill-requires-french-rail-company-to-disclose-truth-of-its-holocaust-role-1.362955 |url-status=live }}

More recently, some sources have claimed that SNCF billed Nazi-occupied France for third-class tickets for Holocaust victims transported to extermination camps,{{Cite news |last=Chrisafis |first=Angelique |date=7 June 2006 |title=French state and SNCF guilty of collusion in deporting Jews |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/07/france.topstories3 |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527003229/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/07/france.topstories3 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=27 March 2007 |title=French railways win WWII appeal |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6499227.stm |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110034322/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6499227.stm |url-status=live }} although passengers were transported in cattle cars.{{Cite news |date=15 November 2010 |title=SNCF airs Holocaust regret as it bids for Florida rail | News | The Week UK |publisher=Thefirstpost.co.uk |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/9909/sncf-airs-holocaust-regret-it-bids-florida-rail |access-date=24 October 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203429/http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/9909/sncf-airs-holocaust-regret-it-bids-florida-rail |url-status=live }} Other sources have reported that after the liberation of France SNCF continued to seek payment for transporting Holocaust victims to Germany.{{Cite news |last=Riding |first=Alan |date=20 March 2003 |title=Nazis' Human Cargo Now Haunts French Railway |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/20/international/europe/20PARI.html |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=14 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114133028/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/20/international/europe/20PARI.html |url-status=live }} However, historian Michael Marrus 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, president of the organization Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France, 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.{{Cite web |last=Serge Klarsfeld |date=26 June 2012 |title=Analysis of Statements Made During the June 20, 2012 Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee of the Judiciary |url=http://www.memorialdelashoah.com/attachments/article/77/Serge_Klarsfeld_sen_judiciary_comm_sncf_washington_july_2012.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221852/http://www.memorialdelashoah.com/attachments/article/77/Serge_Klarsfeld_sen_judiciary_comm_sncf_washington_july_2012.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2013 |access-date=19 November 2013 |website=Memorial de la Shoah |df=dmy-all}}

In December 2014, SNCF agreed to pay up to $60 million worth of compensation to Holocaust survivors in the United States.{{Cite news|last=DeYoung|first=Karen|date=2014-12-05|title=France to compensate American survivors of Holocaust|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/france-to-compensate-american-holocaust-survivors/2014/12/05/9fd176c6-7c94-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html|access-date=2021-08-03|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518153145/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/france-to-compensate-american-holocaust-survivors/2014/12/05/9fd176c6-7c94-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html|url-status=live}} It corresponds to approximately $100,000 per survivor.{{Cite news|date=2014-12-05|title=Pour le rôle de la SNCF dans la Shoah, Paris va verser 100 000 euros à chaque déporté américain|language=fr|work=Le Monde.fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2014/12/05/etats-unis-paris-va-indemniser-les-victimes-de-la-shoah-transportees-par-la-sncf_4535530_3222.html|access-date=2021-08-03|archive-date=17 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517142430/https://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2014/12/05/etats-unis-paris-va-indemniser-les-victimes-de-la-shoah-transportees-par-la-sncf_4535530_3222.html|url-status=live}}

File:Logo of SNCF (2003).svg

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.{{Cite news |last=Vartabedian |first=Ralph |date=2022-10-09 |title=How California's Bullet Train Went Off the Rails |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/us/california-high-speed-rail-politics.html |access-date=2022-10-09 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009102347/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/us/california-high-speed-rail-politics.html |url-status=live }}

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.{{Cite news |date=21 May 2014 |title=French red faces over trains that are 'too wide' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27497727 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912005321/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27497727 |url-status=live }}

On 1 January 2015, Réseau ferré de France (RFF) merged with SNCF Infra and the Direction de la circulation ferroviaire (DCF) and became SNCF Réseau, the operational assets of SNCF became SNCF Mobilités, and both groups were placed under the control of SNCF.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the state-owned railway operator, SNCF informed on 26 July 2024 that its high-speed rail network Eurostar suffered from multiple instances of coordinated sabotage, causing significant disruptions to train services. The incident occurred just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which was considered a high-risk event. The affected lines were located in the western, northern, and eastern regions of France, impacting not only domestic trains but also those travelling to neighboring Belgium and London via the Channel Tunnel. It was expected that roughly 800,000 travellers were impacted because of this arson attack on French railway networks.{{Cite news |last=World Desk|first=TOI|date=2024-07-26 |title=Several french train lines hit by malicious acts disrupting traffic ahead of olympics |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/several-french-train-lines-hit-by-malicious-acts-disrupting-traffic-ahead-of-olympics/articleshow/112036279.cms |access-date=2024-07-26 |work=Times Of India |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |last=Vidalon|first= Dominique|date=2024-07-26 |title=Arson attacks hit France's train network hours before Olympic ceremony |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vandals-target-frances-high-speed-rail-network-olympics-get-underway-2024-07-26/|access-date=2024-07-26 |work=Reuters|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |last=Tessier|first= Benoît|date=2024-07-26 |title=French rail network hit by arson attacks before Olympics opening ceremony |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/26/vandals-target-french-rail-network-olympics-opening-ceremony|access-date=2024-07-26 |work=The Guardian|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |last=ROSSIGNOL|first= PASCAL |date=2024-07-26 |title='Massive attack' on fast train network|url=https://www.dw.com/en/france-massive-attack-on-fast-train-network/a-69771241|access-date=2024-07-26 |work=The DW|language=en-GB}}

File:BB15048-Amiens.JPG) designed by Paul Arzens]]

The industrial designer Paul Arzens 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.

SNCF codeshares with Air Austral, Air France, Air Tahiti Nui, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Middle East Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and SriLankan Airlines. In exchange, SNCF allows passengers on these flights to book railway services between Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy (near Paris) and Aix-en-Provence, Angers, Avignon, Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon Part-Dieu, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nîmes, Poitiers, Rennes, Strasbourg, Tours, and Valence with their airline. The IATA designator used by airlines in connection with these journeys is 2C.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

Continental Airlines discontinued its codeshare with SNCF on 15 August 2010.{{Cite web |title=United Airlines - Airline Tickets, Vacations Packages, Travel Deals, and Company Information on united.com |url=http://www.continental.com/web/en-us/content/company/alliance/sncf.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204152201/http://www.continental.com/web/en-us/content/company/alliance/sncf.aspx |archive-date=4 December 2010 |publisher=Continental.com}}

File:Siège SNCF Saint-Denis.jpg]]

File:SNCFHQParis.JPG neighborhood]]

Until 1999, the SNCF's historic headquarters was located at 88 Rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th arrondissement."{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19970614225922/http://www.sncf.fr/indexe.htm Welcome to the SNCF server!]}}" SNCF. 3 June 1997. Retrieved on 28 April 2010. "88, Rue St Lazare 75009 PARIS." In 1996 the chairman of SNCF, Louis Gallois, announced that SNCF would move its headquarters to a new location during the middle of 1997."{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204501/http://www.humanite.fr/node/166369 La SNCF veut délocaliser son siège parisien]}}". L'Humanité. 23 September 1996. Retrieved on 28 April 2010.

From 1999 to 2013, SNCF's headquarters were located in the Montparnasse neighborhood of the 14th arrondissement of Paris,"[https://www.contravention-sncf.fr/static/html/popupLegalNotes_en.html Legal information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105131/https://www.contravention-sncf.fr/static/html/popupLegalNotes_en.html |date=4 March 2016 }}." SNCF. Retrieved on 24 October 2013. located near the Gare Montparnasse."[http://www.lesechos.fr/20/05/1999/LesEchos/17903-137-ECH_le-siege-haut-perche-de-la-sncf-a-montparnasse.htm Le siège haut perché de la SNCF à Montparnasse]" ({{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074850/http://www.lesechos.fr/20/05/1999/LesEchos/17903-137-ECH_le-siege-haut-perche-de-la-sncf-a-montparnasse.htm Archive]}}). 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The move was motivated by cutting operating costs by 10 million euros per year.Bertrand, Philippe. "[http://business.lesechos.fr/directions-financieres/0202920716512-la-sncf-prend-ses-nouveaux-quartiers-a-saint-denis-8295.php La SNCF prend ses nouveaux quartiers à Saint-Denis]" ({{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140911165142/http://business.lesechos.fr/directions-financieres/0202920716512-la-sncf-prend-ses-nouveaux-quartiers-a-saint-denis-8295.php Archive]}}). Les Echos. 29 July 2013.

Since 1 January 2020 SNCF is a state-owned group consisting of a parent company (SNCF) with several independently operated subsidiaries:

• SNCF Réseau (French for SNCF Network) – State-owned railway infrastructure manager;
• SNCF Gares & Connexions (French for SNCF Stations & Connections) – SNCF Réseau subsidiary responsible for the maintenance and renovation of the 3,000 stations on the French rail network;
• SNCF Voyageurs (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 TGV service, Intercités traditional long-distance services, and TER and Transilien regional services;
• Rail Logistics Europe;
• Hexafret (former Fret SNCF) – rail freight services;
• Technis - rolling stock maintenance;
• Captrain – European rail freight network;
• VIIA, Rolling highway;
• Naviland Cargo;
• Forwardis, freight forwarder;
• Geodis (98.4% owned by SNCF) – Private company that runs freight transportation logistics;
• Keolis (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.

File:Épône gare - distributeur de billets.png at the Épône-Mézières station]]

SNCF has full or partial shares in a large number of companies, the majority of which are rail or transport related. These include:{{Cite web |title=Rapport Financier |url=http://comment-devenirriche.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rapport-financier-2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304173424/http://comment-devenirriche.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rapport-financier-2008.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=usurped |access-date=1 September 2008 |language=fr}}

• ERMEWA (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 Express (51%)

:* Novatrans (38.25%)

:* Districhrono (100%)

:* Ecorail (99.9%)

:* Froidcombi (48.93%)

:* Rouch Intermodal (98.96%)

:* Sefergie (98.96%)

:* EFFIA (99.99%)

Passenger transport

:* Thalys International (70%)

:* Eurostar International (55%){{Cite web|title=About Us {{!}} Behind The Scenes|url=https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/about-eurostar/our-company/behind-the-scenes|access-date=2021-08-03|website=Eurostar|language=en-GB|archive-date=8 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508110025/http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/about_eurostar/company_information/ownership_structure.jsp|url-status=live}}

:* Lyria (74%): high-speed rail operator between France and Switzerland

:* Rhealys SA (30%)

:* Keolis (70%){{Cite web|title=SNCF increases its shareholding in Keolis to accelerate the next phase of the company's development|url=http://www.keolis.com/en/media-centre/press/news/in-detail/article/sncf-increases-its-shareh.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526090304/http://www.keolis.com/en/media-centre/press/news/in-detail/article/sncf-increases-its-shareh.html|archive-date=2014-05-26|website=keolis.com}}

:* Govia (24.5%){{Cite web|title=Govia awarded TSGN franchise : Govia|url=https://www.govia.info/news/govia-awarded-tsgn-franchise/|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.govia.info|archive-date=27 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527003236/https://govia.info/news/govia-awarded-tsgn-franchise/|url-status=live}}

:* Ouigo (100%): low cost high-speed rail operator

:* Ouigo España (100%): open-access high-speed rail operator in Spain

Tickets

:* SNCF Connect (formerly oui.sncf) (50.1%), the on-line travel agency of SNCF

:* Rail Europe, Inc. (50%) Bought from British Rail.

:* GLe-trade

Consulting

:* AREP (99.99%): architecture and urban design of stations and other railway facilities

:* SNCF Consulting (100%)

:* SNCF International (100%)

:* Inexia

:* SYSTRA (35.87%): engineering for public transport

Housing

:* ICF Habitat Novedis (100%): rental housing (social and private housing)

According to a TNS SOFRES survey published in 2010, 66% of French people have a good image of SNCF.{{Cite web|date=2010-09-26|title=Les Français sont plus fiers de leurs trains que les Allemands {{!}}|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2010/09/26/04015-20100926ARTFIG00098-les-francais-sont-plus-fiers-de-leurs-trains-que-les-allemands.php|work=Le Figaro.fr|language=FR|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127053834/https://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2010/09/26/04015-20100926ARTFIG00098-les-francais-sont-plus-fiers-de-leurs-trains-que-les-allemands.php|url-status=live}} At the end of 2019, this proportion was measured at 50% by the Posternak-Ifop barometer on the image of companies.{{Cite web|date=2019-12-02|title=A lo'rée de la grève du 5 décembre, l'image de la SNCF s'écroule {{!}}|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/a-l-oree-de-la-greve-du-5-decembre-l-image-de-la-sncf-s-ecroule-20191202|work=Le Figaro.fr|language=FR|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=27 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527003136/https://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/a-l-oree-de-la-greve-du-5-decembre-l-image-de-la-sncf-s-ecroule-20191202|url-status=live}} In 2020, Eight Advisory and IFOP unveil their ranking of the "most admired French companies": SNCF is in 23rd position.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-25|title=Le commerce domine le classement des entreprises françaises les plus admirées {{!}}|url=https://www.lsa-conso.fr/le-commerce-domine-le-classement-des-entreprises-francaises-les-plus-admirees,362513|work=lsa-conso.fr|language=FR|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417152355/https://www.lsa-conso.fr/le-commerce-domine-le-classement-des-entreprises-francaises-les-plus-admirees,362513|url-status=live}}

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 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.{{Cite web|date=2018-04-03|title=La SNCF parmi les meilleurs réseaux européens {{!}}|url=https://blogs.alternatives-economiques.fr/gilles-raveaud/2018/04/03/la-sncf-parmi-les-meilleurs-reseaux-europeens|work=blogs.alternatives-economiques.fr|language=FR|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225175341/https://blogs.alternatives-economiques.fr/gilles-raveaud/2018/04/03/la-sncf-parmi-les-meilleurs-reseaux-europeens|url-status=live}}

SNCF's current visual logo was created in 2005 by the Carré Noir agency, a subsidiary of the 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.

The SNCF sound logo – the four notes C – G – A flat – E flat –, in a sung version,{{Cite web|date=2015-04-09|title=Le jingle : l'histoire sonore de la marque SNCF {{!}} SNCF|url=http://www.sncf.com/fr/identite/jingle|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409165440/http://www.sncf.com/fr/identite/jingle|archive-date=9 April 2015|access-date=2021-01-20|website=www.sncf.com|language=FR}} was created in 2005 by Michaël Boumendil.{{Cite web |last=JDD |first=Le |title=Le jingle de la SNCF, c'est lui! |url=https://www.lejdd.fr/Style-de-vie/Portrait-de-Michael-Boumendil-designer-sonore-303201-3110228 |access-date=2021-01-20 |website=lejdd.fr |language=fr |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417144136/https://www.lejdd.fr/Style-de-vie/Portrait-de-Michael-Boumendil-designer-sonore-303201-3110228 |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite news |date=2015-07-09 |title=Pour David Gilmour, guitariste de Pink Floyd, l'inspiration est venue d'un jingle de la SNCF |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/big-browser/article/2015/07/09/pour-david-gilmour-guitariste-de-pink-floyd-l-inspiration-est-venue-d-un-jingle-de-la-sncf_5991342_4832693.html |access-date=2021-01-20 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201010950/https://www.lemonde.fr/big-browser/article/2015/07/09/pour-david-gilmour-guitariste-de-pink-floyd-l-inspiration-est-venue-d-un-jingle-de-la-sncf_5991342_4832693.html |url-status=live }} Simone Hérault has been the voice of SNCF since 1981.{{Cite journal |title=Figure 1.2. Productivity slowdown has been continuous since the 1970s |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933496787 |access-date=2021-01-20 |doi=10.1787/888933496787 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322103828/https://statlinks.oecdcode.org/102017131P1G039.XLSX |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

Since the Auguste and Louis Lumière's first film, SNCF has been the company that hosts the most film shoots in France,{{Cite web|date=2017-10-22|title=Portrait : Philippe Laylle, le monsieur cinéma de la SNCF {{!}}|url=https://www.lettreducheminot.fr/culture/portrait-philippe-laylle-monsieur-cinema-de-sncf/|work=Lettre du cheminot.fr|language=FR|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301000714/https://www.lettreducheminot.fr/culture/portrait-philippe-laylle-monsieur-cinema-de-sncf/|url-status=live}} between 50 and 60 shoots per year, which represents around two thirds of French productions.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-27 |title=Le Jackpot des lieux de tournage à Paris {{!}} |work=Le Figaro.fr |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/scope/articles-enquete/2009/02/24/08002-20090224ARTFIG00478-le-jackpot-des-lieux-de-tournage-a-paris-.php |access-date=7 April 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414052835/https://www.lefigaro.fr/scope/articles-enquete/2009/02/24/08002-20090224ARTFIG00478-le-jackpot-des-lieux-de-tournage-a-paris-.php |url-status=live }} A selection of iconic films where SNCF is at the heart of the matter include:

• Hugo
• Mr. Bean's Holiday
• Mission: Impossible
• The Tourist

• Killing Eve

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