SNCF Réseau’s European action

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Europe is the natural extension of SNCF Réseau's playground. We are working hand in hand with the various European rail players and public decision-makers to create the rail network of the future. Find out more about the scope of our actions here!

Our European strategic objectives

SNCF Réseau's actions are designed to meet three key challenges in building a European rail system.

Harmonising the management of Europe's rail infrastructure, so that travelling from one country to another is as easy as travelling between two regions.  

Our method for achieving this is to engage in dialogue with the European authorities and other infrastructure managers, while preparing the ground with our international customers.   

Optimising the performance of the European rail system, to improve the interoperability of Europe's railways.  

Our method for achieving this is to align our vision and resources with those of all the European players in the rail industry, and intervene wherever developments in the sector's commercial, regulatory and technical framework are decided.    

Developing international rail traffic. Today, 10% of passengers and almost 50% of goods cross French borders: it's up to us to make them prefer the train!    

Our method for achieving this is to constantly improve and promote our passenger and freight services.  

Our conductor: the Europe Division

SNCF Réseau's European strategy is designed, led and promoted by the Europe Division. Its missions cover dialogue with European decision-makers, the development of international cooperation between infrastructure managers and the preparation of applications for European funding. To carry out all these actions successfully, the Europe Division coordinates with all of SNCF Réseau's general and regional divisions.  

Projects supported by Europe

Every year, the European Commission provides financial support for some of our projects, selected for their relevance to sustainable mobility.   

European grants

Our contribution to European freight corridors

Eleven freight corridors have been created to develop rail goods transportation in Europe. SNCF Réseau is a stakeholder in four of these corridors. Within this framework, we are coordinating our actions with the infrastructure managers of the countries crossed to plan the works, facilitate contact between railway undertakings and terminals located along the route, and provide them with a one-stop shop for allocating train paths.   

International freight One-stop shop for train path allocation

PRIME: a common strategy for Europe's railways

PRIME (Platform of Rail Infrastructure Managers in Europe) is a collaborative platform, created in 2013, which brings together rail infrastructure managers (IMs) with the European Commission and EU bodies.

Its roadmap: implementing the Single European Railway Area. How? By improving cooperation between IMs in different countries, supporting the implementation of European rail policy and benchmarking to identify best practices.  

Report!

Each year, PRIME members collect and analyse almost 400 data sets, making it possible to compare the different rail networks in Europe according to key performance indicators. This is the Prime report, a true dissection of Europe's railways.

Read the latest PRIME report

Find out more