Innovating for sustainable mobility

Towards a network capable of handling more trains

By 2040, the rail network will have more capacity, be more robust and adapted to the constraints brought about by climate change. Its costs and environmental impact will be optimised to deliver more sustainable mobility for passenger and goods transportation. At the heart of our business activities, innovation is the driving force behind this transformation, contributing to our trajectory of performance and industrial excellence. 

A huge playground for innovation

IoT on the network

The rail network offers an extraordinary field of application for new technologies. These include the IoT (Internet of Things) and data science , which enable us to collect and analyse infrastructure and service data to optimise network maintenance and operation. 3D modelling and digital continuity facilitate our projections for major development projects. Virtual reality also helps us to master the skills we need to do our jobs and to continually improve our procedures. 

The digital revolution serving human expertise

A pioneering spirit

Innovation is in our genes 

Since the creation of the railways 200 years ago, the men and women of the national rail network have been constantly renewing their tools, methods and organisations to successfully carry out their missions in the service of passengers, customer companies and the regions.  
 

Innovation is a state of mind that we cultivate 

It happens everywhere, every day, and at every level of the company. Our agents at the heart of the action are changing processes, our operational teams are adopting more agile organisations serving their needs, and those involved in innovation are working on the practices, tools and operations of tomorrow.   

Innovation on all fronts

The world is changing and so is the railway world

SNCF Réseau plays a leading role in driving these changes and defines the mobility of tomorrow alongside institutional, industrial, technological and academic players.

SNCF Réseau, at the heart of an innovation ecosystem

We work closely with major companies, start-ups, laboratories, universities and federations: a win-win opportunity to share expertise and resources.  

The major challenges of rail innovation

Our major areas of innovation are aimed at managing the obsolescence of the network in order to boost the performance of rail transport by building on our fundamentals: maintaining a high level of safety, guaranteeing the robustness needed for customer satisfaction, being a driving force in the ecological transition, and ensuring our economic performance. 

Increasing rail traffic

We are innovating to run more passenger and goods trains on the existing rail network to meet new mobility needs. To meet this challenge, we are focusing on two levers: 

  • resizing the network to match the current population 
  • implementing a strategy to develop rail freight  

To be able to activate these levers, we are giving priority to the regeneration and modernisation of rail infrastructure.  

Examples of innovation

Optimising maintenance and strengthening the resilience of the network

We innovate to maintain a high level of performance and safety of railway installations. Our aim is to move from corrective maintenance to predictive maintenance. The aim is to anticipate interventions targeted at the right need, at the right time, to reduce the impact on traffic and improve the responsiveness of teams in the event of unforeseen events. All our progress in network monitoring and maintenance must contribute to making the infrastructure ever safer and more robust, as well as more resilient in the face of climate change.  

Examples of innovation

Managing climatic hazards

Driving the ecological transition

In line with Europe's commitments to decarbonisation, our objective between now and 2050 is clear: the train, the main vehicle for decarbonised services, must become the central point of intermodality, in coordination with other means of transport: river, maritime and low-carbon road transport of the future. Our roadmap includes eco-design, circular economy, energy sobriety and respect for biodiversity approaches. 

Examples of innovation

Leading the way to sustainable development

Designing major projects

Industrial innovation also helps us to better anticipate and prepare for major rail projects.

The key: digital continuity! Various digital twin services, either industrialised or under development, are enabling us to optimise the overall management of our assets and radically transform our methods, management and decision-making processes.  

These services steer rail operations and maintenance towards greater efficiency, reliability and respect for the environment. 

Public funding of innovation

Innovation at SNCF Réseau is supported by external funding, whether European (via Shif2Rail and, since 2022, the Europe's Rail research and innovation programme), national (via the recovery plan, the future investment programme, the France 2030 plan, the National Association for Research and Technology, etc.) or regional. 

Taken together, these resources make it possible to pool expertise and resources, and to accelerate projects thanks to three- to five-year funding that focuses in particular on: 

  • digitising the network  
  • decarbonisation  
  • energy savings 
  • the circular economy 

Innovation exhibition agenda

SIFER from 24 to 26 June 2025 in Lille  
International rail industry exhibition bringing together suppliers of products, services and technologies for urban and mainline rail networks.