Finance

2019 was a good year in many ways. Very robust growth in business over the first 11 months confirmed our ability to offer services that meet the expectations of passengers, transport organizing authorities, shippers and each of the railway companies that use the national rail network. We also performed well on rail fundamentals: safety, on-time arrivals and passenger information. But the year also saw a multi-sector strike that began in December, cutting short our momentum and generating operating losses of €614m at year-end 2019. Today 2019 is behind us, and 2020 marks a milestone for the new SNCF, a public limited company with public capital and the parent company of a unified public group, which replaced Epic SNCF—our former structure—on 1 January. This transformation couldn’t be more timely: today rail transport is not just a market of the future, it’s vital for quality of life: SNCF plays a central role in people’s lives. And given the challenges of climate change and the urgent need for regional, social and economic development, we can and must continue to act. SNCF and the men and women we employ have both the resources and the commitment to deliver.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, Chairman and CEO of SNCF Group