Information AboutSncf |
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SNCF ('''Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français''') (French National Railway Company) is a French public enterprise. Its functions include operation of rail services for passengers and freight, and maintenance as well as signalling of rail infrastructure owned by RFF (Réseau Ferré de France). It employs about 180,000 people. The rail network consists of about 32,000 Km of route, of which 1,500 km is High-speed line and 14,500 km is Electrified . About 14,000 trains are operated daily. The chairman of SNCF is Anne Marie Idrac . Its headquarters is in Paris , in the Rue du Commandant Mouchotte. SCOPE OF BUSINESS .]] SNCF operates almost all of France's railway system, including the TGV (''Train à Grande Vitesse'', literally " High-speed Train ") and some segments of the RER . In the past, SNCF owned not only the trains, but also the tracks, but this has changed due to new European Union regulations. Since 1997 the tracks and other rail infrastructure have belonged to a separate government establishment, the '' Réseau Ferré De France ''; this change was intended to open the market to independent train operating companies, although few have yet appeared. There have been claims that this is mainly due to very restrictive regulations that are allegedly motivated by Protectionism . For example, the licensing procedure for the Multi-system ICE3M took four years, while the same train was allowed onto tracks in the Netherlands and Belgium within a year of its introduction. HISTORY SNCF was formed in 1938 on the Nationalisation of France's five main railways. These were the:
The French state took 51% ownership of SNCF and has since put large amounts of public subsidies into the system. In the 1970s , SNCF began the TGV High Speed Train programme with the intention of creating the world's fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981 , when the first TGV service, from Paris to Lyon , was inaugurated. TGV lines and the TGV technology have since spread to several other European countries plus South Korea . Role during World War II |
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