Finances

Achieving equilibrium

In a complex socio-economic climate, we are working hard to improve our performance and achieve financial equilibrium from 2024. This implies a stepped up quest for industrial efficiency and effective support from the State. 

A special status

Since the rail reform of June 2018, SNCF Réseau has been a public limited company, a subsidiary of the SNCF Group, wholly owned by the State and non-transferable. A change of status for the company, which has since undergone a profound transformation of its organisation and culture.  

The organisation of SNCF Réseau

Opening up to competition: an opportunity

The State supports the railways

Public authorities see rail as the backbone of sustainable mobility. Rail is both a way of decarbonising transport to combat climate change, and a way of energising and connecting regions. A number of key measures have been introduced to improve the sector's competitiveness. 

Partial assumption of our debt

The LOM law to invest in rail

Our foundation: the performance contract

Signed in 2022, the performance contract follows the assumption of the debt by the State. This contract secures an average annual budget of €2.84bn between 2023 and 2030 from the revenue generated by our tolls. This budget is part of the considerable effort to regenerate the national rail network, which has been underway for several years now, in order to guarantee efficient, safe and robust rail transport. 

In return, we commit to complying with three financial milestones: 

  • Cash flow greater than or equal to zero from 2024  
  • A debt to operating margin ratio of less than or equal to 6 from 2026  
  • A performance trajectory that should lead to a €1.5bn gain in 2026 compared with 2016 

Our aim is to achieve financial equilibrium from 2024, and over the long term, in order to guarantee the long-term future of our company and regain the room to manoeuvre we need to realise our ambitions.

Author : Anne Bosche-Lenoir, Deputy Managing Director of Finance & Purchasing, SNCF Réseau

Where do we stand today?

Tighter financial discipline, a quest for increased performance, strict control of debt, etc. Since 2021, we have been doing everything we can to meet the objectives set out in the contract. In 2023, the results are in: 

  • Free cash flow of -€204m, i.e. €400m better than the trajectory (-€604m forecast in the contract for 2023).  
  • Cumulative performance of €1,143m, or €85m more than forecast in the contract by the end of 2023. 
2023 annual report Financial documentation

What's next? Our 2023-2032 strategic plan

In 2023, the government chose the "ecological planning" scenario from the three main options put forward by the Conseil d'Orientation des Infrastructures, which envisages investing almost €100bn in rail between now and 2040.

This political decision, the details of which are still being worked out by the government, is intended to strengthen the mobility offer by pursuing four main areas of investment.  

SNCF Réseau's strategic plan for the period 2023-2032 is based on the investment base secured by the performance contract and on these four areas dedicated to the rail development programme. 

  • Network regeneration: a budget of €1bn a year will be added from 2027 onwards to the annual €2.8bn of the performance contract. 
  • Modernising the network: an additional budget will make it possible to reach €0.5bn per year from 2027. 
  • Deployment of metropolitan regional express services: a budget of €700m has been announced in the plan contracts between now and 2027. 
  • The acceleration of major development projects: rail improvements to the north of Toulouse, rail improvements to the south of Bordeaux, the new Provence Côte d'Azur line, the new Montpellier-Perpignan line, the major rail project in the South-West, the French Lyon-Turin access and the reinforcement of the Dijon-Modane accesses. 

SNCF SA, SNCF Réseau and the State are currently discussing the scope and financing arrangements for these four investment areas. 

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