SNCF, the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français, is the French national railway company. It was created on January 1, 1938. It uses the IATA designator 2C in relation to journeys codeshared by airlines.
SNCF operates almost all of France's railway system, including the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, literally "high-speed train").
In the past, SNCF owned not only the trains, but also the tracks, but this has changed due to new European Union regulations. Starting from 1997, the tracks belong to a separate government establishment, the Réseau Ferré de France. This may, in the future, lead to several companies proposing services on the same network.
Codeshare with airlines
A 2nd-generation TGV train (Réseau class) at Marseille St-Charles station.
The rail network currently consists of about 32,000 km of track, of which 1,500 km is high-speed track and 14,500 km is electrified.
Role during World War II On 16 May 2006 the SNCF and the French State were successfully taken to the administrative court for complicity in crimes against humanity by the MEP Alain Lipietz, because of their role in tranporting members of his family to the Drancy deportation camp during World War II.
SNCF argued that they were required to transport Jews by the Vichy regime and the Nazis, and that they had never taken the initiative.
Services run by Frenchrail operator SNCF from the freight depot at Frethun, near Calais, were suspended over the weekend after 200 asylum seekers invaded the yard.
SNCF, which runs the depot, said on Wednesday that the situation was continuing with up to 50 would-be immigrants invading the site whenever a new train is about to depart.
SNCF tried to get four trains through on Tuesday, but only one managed to reach the tunnel because asylum seekers were swarming over them, an SNCF spokeswoman said.
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