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53-525: The Côte Bleue is served by the SNCF railway running from Miramas to the L'Estaque neighbourhood in northern Marseille, through the seaside communes of Sausset-les-Pins , Carry-le-Rouet , Ensuès-la-Redonne and Le Rove . Opened in phases between 1879 and 1915, it has been named one of the most scenic railway lines in the world. It is colloquially known in French as Le train de la côte Bleue ("The train of

106-416: A factor in the late braking. SNCF began disciplinary proceedings and take punitive measures against employees responsible for, among other things, the "reckless presence" of children on the test train, presence of seven people in the cab, the lack of rigor in creating lists of those onboard and controlling access to the train, and "without doubt" the human errors in the cab. SNCF held a minute of silence for

159-532: A large number of companies, the majority of which are rail or transport related. These include: General freight transport : Passenger transport Tickets Consulting Housing According to a TNS SOFRES survey published in 2010, 66% of French people have a good image of SNCF. At the end of 2019, this proportion was measured at 50% by the Posternak-Ifop barometer on the image of companies. In 2020, Eight Advisory and IFOP unveil their ranking of

212-428: A maximum speed of 352 km/h (219 mph) on sections where the speed limit was 320 km/h (200 mph). As the train approached the flying junction in the commune of Vendenheim, it should have slowed from 352 to 176 km/h (219 to 109 mph) before reaching Kilometer Point  (KP) 403.809, where the speed limit was 160 km/h (99 mph). As the track begins a long, right-hand curve into

265-631: A sung version, was created in 2005 by Michaël Boumendil . David Gilmour , guitarist of the group Pink Floyd , used the jingle as the inspiration for the title track of his 2015 album Rattle That Lock . Simone Hérault has been the voice of SNCF since 1981. Since the Auguste and Louis Lumière 's first film, SNCF has been the company that hosts the most film shoots in France , between 50 and 60 shoots per year, which represents around two thirds of French productions. A selection of iconic films where SNCF

318-451: Is 2C. Continental Airlines discontinued its codeshare with SNCF on 15 August 2010. Until 1999, the SNCF's historic headquarters was located at 88 Rue Saint-Lazare in the 9th arrondissement . In 1996 the chairman of SNCF, Louis Gallois, announced that SNCF would move its headquarters to a new location during the middle of 1997. From 1999 to 2013, SNCF's headquarters were located in

371-529: Is at the heart of the matter include: Eckwersheim derailment On 14 November 2015, a TGV train derailed in Eckwersheim , Alsace , France, while performing commissioning trials on the second phase of the LGV Est high-speed rail line, which was scheduled to open for commercial service five months later. The derailment resulted in 11 deaths and 42 injuries. It was the first fatal derailment in

424-744: Is the "broken nose" style of electric and diesel locomotives. SNCF codeshares with Air Austral , Air France , Air Tahiti Nui , American Airlines , Cathay Pacific , Middle East Airlines , Etihad Airways , Qatar Airways , and SriLankan Airlines . In exchange, SNCF allows passengers on these flights to book railway services between Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy (near Paris ) and Aix-en-Provence , Angers , Avignon , Bordeaux , Le Mans , Lille , Lyon Part-Dieu , Marseille , Montpellier , Nantes , Nîmes , Poitiers , Rennes , Strasbourg , Tours , and Valence with their airline. The IATA designator used by airlines in connection with these journeys

477-871: The InterCity West Coast franchise. In April 2017 SNCF took a 30% shareholding in a joint venture with Stagecoach Group and Virgin Group to bid for the West Coast Partnership that will operate services on the West Coast Main Line from May 2020 and the High Speed 2 line from 2026. In April 2019 Stagecoach were banned from bidding for any franchises including the West Coast Partnership which has meant that Virgin and SNCF have now had to withdraw from

530-690: The Montparnasse neighborhood of the 14th arrondissement of Paris , located near the Gare Montparnasse . Since July 2013, the SNCF headquarters are located in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis at 2, place aux Étoiles, 93200 Saint Denis . The move was motivated by cutting operating costs by 10 million euros per year. Since 1 January 2020 SNCF is a state-owned group consisting of a parent company (SNCF) with several independently operated subsidiaries: SNCF has full or partial shares in

583-509: The TGV ( Train à Grande Vitesse , meaning "high-speed train"). In the 1970s, the SNCF began the TGV high-speed train program with the intention of creating the world's fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981 with the completion of the first high-speed line LGV Sud-Est ("Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est", meaning "southeast high-speed line"), where the first TGV service, from Paris to Lyon ,

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636-438: The liberation of France SNCF continued to seek payment for transporting Holocaust victims to Germany. However, historian Michael Marrus has written that claims that SNCF billed for third-class tickets and continued to seek payment after the war ended were made as part of a legal case brought against SNCF, and did not match with historians' understanding of what happened. Marrus argues that SNCF had no margin of maneuver during

689-677: The "most admired French companies": SNCF is in 23rd position. Safety on trains is also often a priority. To do this, around 2,800 railway workers form the Railway Security, the general supervision of SNCF, of which 50% of the workforce is assigned to the Île-de-France region. Furthermore, the experts of the BCG, Boston Consulting Group , use to compare the rail systems in 25 European countries. They rank France in tied 4th position (with Germany , Austria and Sweden ), behind Switzerland , Denmark and Finland . The criteria are :

742-466: The 106km second phase, from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim , near Strasbourg, began in 2010. The final weld of rails on the second phase occurred in March 2015, marking the completion of the line, although some work remained. At the time of the derailment, the line was scheduled to open for commercial service on 3 April 2016, following commissioning trials and training for operators. The scheduled tests for

795-520: The Blue Coast"). 43°19′59″N 5°11′20″E  /  43.333°N 5.189°E  / 43.333; 5.189 This article related to geography of France is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français ( French pronunciation: [sɔsjete nɑsjɔnal de ʃ(ə)mɛ̃ d(ə) fɛʁ fʁɑ̃sɛ] ; abbreviated as SNCF [ɛsɛnseɛf] ; lit. "National Company of

848-645: The French Red Cross , which operated at the school in Eckwersheim. The French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, Ségolène Royal , and the Secretary of State for Transport , Alain Vidalies , travelled to the site shortly after the crash. The president of SNCF, Guillaume Pepy , and the president of SNCF Réseau , Jacques Rapoport, also travelled to the site in the hours after

901-762: The French Railways") is France 's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic along with that of Monaco , including the TGV , on France's high-speed rail network. Its functions include operation of railway services for passengers and freight (through its subsidiaries SNCF Voyageurs and Rail Logistics Europe ), as well as maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure ( SNCF Réseau ). The railway network consists of about 35,000 km (22,000 mi) of route, of which 2,600 km (1,600 mi) are high-speed lines and 14,500 km (9,000 mi) electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily. In 2010

954-533: The German occupation and that the actions of SNCF employees were not ideologically motivated. According to Serge Klarsfeld , president of the organization Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France , SNCF was forced by German and Vichy authorities to cooperate in providing transport for French Jews to the border and did not make any profit from this transport. In December 2014, SNCF agreed to pay up to $ 60 million worth of compensation to Holocaust survivors in

1007-696: The German occupying forces. This allowed SNCF employees to perform many acts of resistance , including the formation of the Résistance-Fer movement in 1943. Nearly 1,700 SNCF railway workers were killed or deported for resisting Nazi orders. 150 Résistance-Fer agents were shot for their acts of resistance, 500 of them were deported. Half of those deported died in concentration camps. German occupying forces in France also requisitioned SNCF to transport nearly 77,000 Jews and other Holocaust victims to Nazi extermination camps . These deportations have been

1060-734: The SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list. It is the main business of the SNCF Group, which in 2020 had €30 billion of sales in 120 countries. The SNCF Group employs more than 275,000 employees in France and around the world. Since July 2013, the SNCF Group headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2 Place aux Étoiles in Saint-Denis . The president of SNCF Group has been Jean-Pierre Farandou  [ fr ] since 2019. SNCF operates almost all of France's railway traffic, including

1113-516: The United States. It corresponds to approximately $ 100,000 per survivor. In the early 2000s, SNCF sought to get a contract from the state of California for a bullet train project between Los Angeles and San Francisco. SNCF recommended that the train take the most direct route between the two locations to reduce the complexity and cost of the project, but the SNCF's recommendations were cast aside by California politicians who wanted to divert

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1166-464: The Vendenheim junction on the display being monitored by staff at the signalling control center . At 15:10, the control center initiated emergency procedures for the loss of a train and closed the non-high-speed rail lines that pass through the Vendenheim junction. At approximately the same time, one of the companies involved in the construction of the line received a call from an employee aboard

1219-454: The accident. The train was carrying 53 people, including four children, ages 10–15, who were not officially authorized to be aboard. The derailment resulted in 11 deaths, which included four employees of SNCF, five technicians from Systra , the engineering firm responsible for the tests, and two guests. Ten died at the crash scene, one died the following evening, and one seriously injured person remained in hospital as of February 2016. Among

1272-487: The canal, coming to rest 80–130 m (260–430 ft) beyond the beginning of the bridge. Cars 8–9 came to rest on the east bank of the canal and the rear engine ended up partially submerged in the canal. According to investigators, late braking, which led to the train entering the curve at excessive speed, was the immediate cause of the accident. Criminal and technical investigations are ongoing . French national rail operator SNCF suspended test trials at high speeds until

1325-505: The company had discovered that 2,000 new trains they ordered at a cost of 15 billion euros are too wide for many of France's regional platforms. Construction work has started to reconfigure them. On 1 January 2015, Réseau ferré de France (RFF) merged with SNCF Infra and the Direction de la circulation ferroviaire (DCF) and became SNCF Réseau , the operational assets of SNCF became SNCF Mobilités , and both groups were placed under

1378-489: The control of SNCF. Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the state-owned railway operator, SNCF informed on 26 July 2024 that its high-speed rail network Eurostar suffered from multiple instances of coordinated sabotage , causing significant disruptions to train services. The incident occurred just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics , which was considered a high-risk event. The affected lines were located in

1431-439: The curve. According to the SNCF, the "immediate cause" of the accident was "a late braking sequence"; the braking should have begun at least 1km or 12 seconds earlier. The investigation has found no fault for the accident in the infrastructure, train, or member of the technical team. There were seven people in the driving cab at the time of the accident, all of whom survived. Investigators have suggested that this may have been

1484-455: The dead was the director of the LGV Est line for SNCF Réseau , which owns France's railroad infrastructure. Despite breaking in two pieces and the severe impact with the parapet, there were no deaths among the seven people in the front cab. The second-to-last car impacted the canal wall and was the car with the highest death toll. It was the first fatal derailment in the history of the TGV and

1537-409: The end of the bridge. Cars 2–7 derailed before the bridge and traveled off the embankment with enough speed to overshoot the canal and come to rest 80–130 m (260–430 ft) beyond the beginning of the bridge. Cars 8–9 came to rest on the east bank of the canal and the rear power car ended up partially submerged in the canal. At 15:05, the train disappeared from the approach zone for

1590-466: The flying junction, it is on a raised embankment 5–8 m (16–26 ft) high and bridges the Marne–Rhine Canal . The flying junction marks the end of the LGV Est line, after which the train was to continue on an existing, non-high-speed rail line leading to Strasbourg Station. As the train entered the right-hand curve into the flying junction, the rear bogie of the lead power car derailed to

1643-415: The history of the TGV and the third derailment since the TGV entered commercial service in 1981. The test train was traveling eastbound on the southern track when it entered a curve at 265 km/h (165 mph)—90 km/h (56 mph) over its assigned speed—causing the rear bogie of the lead engine to derail to the left (outside of curve) due to centrifugal forces . The lead engine separated from

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1696-455: The lead power car's transformer , which ignited and was spread across the bridge and canal banks. The rear bogie of the lead power car remained where it impacted the concrete parapet. The transformer of the lead power car landed on the east bank of the canal. The remainder of the lead power car slid along the left parapet of the bridge. At the end of the bridge, it overturned, slid down the embankment and came to rest 150 m (490 ft) beyond

1749-413: The left (outside of the curve) at 15:04:42 at approximately KP 404.003. Violent transverse movements at the rear of the lead power car caused it to separate from the rest of the train. The rear of the lead power car struck a concrete parapet (KP 404.209) on the leading abutment to the bridge over the Marne–Rhine Canal . The impact broke apart the lead power car and caused oil to leak from

1802-503: The lessons learned from the investigation were integrated into the testing process. The scheduled opening of the second phase of the LGV Est for commercial service was delayed three months, from 3 April 2016 to 3 July 2016. The LGV Est européenne (often shortened to LGV Est ) is a high-speed rail line connecting Paris and Strasbourg . Development has been divided into two phases. The first phase, from Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris, to Baudrecourt opened on 10 June 2007. Construction on

1855-414: The line consisted of four phases: A specialized test train, Dasye set 744 in a commemorative livery , arrived to conduct the fourth phase of testing, which began on 28 September 2015. During this phase, more than 200 test runs would be performed on the line. The test runs would test ride smoothness, performance of the catenary , radio communications, and the signalling system . During some runs,

1908-670: The most recent on 3 April 2007, when a new version of the TGV dubbed the V150 with larger wheels than the usual TGV, was able to cover more ground with each rotation and had a stronger 18,600-kilowatt (24,900-horsepower) engine, and broke the world speed record for conventional railway trains, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). The SNCF has a remarkable safety record. After nearly 30 years in operation, SNCF's TGV system has only experienced one fatal accident , which occurred during pre-opening testing and not in regular operation. In 2011 SNCF in partnership with Keolis , unsuccessfully bid for

1961-417: The rest of the train, and the rear of the lead engine struck the concrete parapet on the abutment to a bridge over the Marne–Rhine Canal . The engine slid along the left parapet of the bridge and overturned, sliding down the embankment and coming to rest 150 m (490 ft) beyond the end of the bridge. Cars 2–7 derailed before the bridge and travelled off the embankment with enough inertia to overshoot

2014-720: The shortlist. Since the 1990s, SNCF has been selling railway carriages to regional governments, with the creation of the Train Express Régional brand. SNCF also maintains a broad scope of international business that includes work on freight lines, inter-city lines and commuter lines. SNCF experts provide logistics, design, construction, operations and maintenance services. SNCF operates the international ticketing agency SNCF Connect , formerly oui.sncf/Voyages-sncf.com and Rail Europe , previously Loco 2 . SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting. Those projects include SNCF

2067-669: The subject of historical controversy and lawsuits (such as the Lipietz case ) in France as well as in the United States (where subsidiary Keolis is a transportation contractor) to the present day . In 1992 SNCF commissioned French academics to write a history of SNCF activities during World War II. The resultant report was published in 1996. More recently, some sources have claimed that SNCF billed Nazi-occupied France for third-class tickets for Holocaust victims transported to extermination camps, although passengers were transported in cattle cars . Other sources have reported that after

2120-457: The subjects which SNCF will investigate is whether there was a dereliction of duties by an SNCF employee that resulted in the unauthorized children riding on the train. The president of SNCF has exclaimed: "This is not a practice that SNCF recognizes. A test train is a test train." The derailment occurred the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks , initially sparking fears that the derailment

2173-415: The test train would operate at 10% above the planned operational speeds for the line when it entered service. Some automated safety systems were disabled to allow the test train to operate beyond normal operating conditions. Orientation training for operators was scheduled to take place between January and March 2016 prior to the start of commercial service on the line, which was scheduled for 3 April 2016 at

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2226-510: The third derailment since the TGV entered commercial service in 1981. Three investigations have been opened. The French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA-TT, Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Accidents de Transport Terrestre ), which is responsible for investigating rail accidents in France, opened a non-judicial technical investigation. The BEA-TT published its final report in March 2017. A criminal investigation and internal investigation by SNCF have also been opened. Among

2279-495: The time of the accident. In January 2016, SNCF announced that the opening of the line would be delayed until 3 July 2016. Tests scheduled for 11 and 14 November were to traverse each of the two tracks, in both directions of travel and at a test speed 10% above the speed limit when the line is in commercial service. On the afternoon of 14 November, the test train was scheduled to depart Meuse TGV Station at 14:18 and arrive at Strasbourg Station at 15:17. At 14:26, authorization

2332-505: The train through various communities, raising the cost and complexity of the project, as well as the expected travel time. SNCF pulled out of the project in 2011 and went to Morocco to help the country construct a bullet train service. By 2018, Morocco's bullet train started service while the California bullet train project was not close to being operational in 2022, with some saying that the project would never be completed. In May 2014,

2385-412: The train, who informed them of the derailment. Shortly before 17:45, the local mass casualty plan was enacted. Emergency medical and fire rescue services along with 100 gendarmes responded to the incident. At its height, 104 engines from three départments responded to the incident—65 from Bas-Rhin and 39 from Moselle and Haut-Rhin . Those with minor injuries were treated by responders from

2438-477: The transport of German armed forces and armaments. The invading German troops were responsible for the destruction of nearly 350 French railway bridges and tunnels. According to differing estimates, SNCF surrendered between 125,000 and 213,000 wagons and 1,000–2,000 locomotives. France's railway infrastructure and rolling stocks were a target for the French Resistance aimed at disrupting and fighting

2491-520: The utilization rate, quality of service and safety. SNCF's current visual logo was created in 2005 by the Carré Noir agency, a subsidiary of the Publicis communication group . It was slightly reworked in 2011: rounded corners, disappearance of shadows inside the letters as well as behind, and a clearer separation between them. The SNCF sound logo – the four notes C – G – A flat – E flat –, in

2544-465: The victims during the course of operations on Monday, 16 November. The following day, a memorial service was held in the church in Mundolsheim , which was attended by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy . SNCF suspended all test trials at high speeds until the lessons learned from the investigation can be integrated into testing processes. A memorial garden and stone marker were dedicated at the site on

2597-504: The western, northern, and eastern regions of France , impacting not only domestic trains but also those travelling to neighboring Belgium and London via the Channel Tunnel . It was expected that roughly 800,000 travellers were impacted because of this arson attack on french railway networks. The industrial designer Paul Arzens styled many of SNCF's locomotives from the 1940s until the 1970s. A particularly distinctive type

2650-407: Was formed in 1938 with the nationalisation of France's main railway companies ( Chemin de fer , literally, 'way of iron', means railway). These were the: The French state originally took 51% ownership of SNCF and invested large amounts of public subsidies into the system. Today, SNCF is wholly owned by the French state. Following the 1940 Armistice and until August 1944, SNCF was requisitioned for

2703-408: Was given to begin the test and the test train left Meuse TGV Station two minutes later. During this test, the test train traveled eastbound on Track 2, the southern track on the east–west oriented LGV Est, in the direction opposite normal operation (Strasbourg towards Paris). The Meuse-Strasbourg run was the last series of tests on the line during the fourth phase of tests. The train reached

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2756-442: Was inaugurated. In 2017, the national rail network owned by SNCF Réseau had 28,710 km (17,839 mi) of lines, 58% of which were electrified and 2,640 high-speed lines. Every day, the SNCF runs 15,000 commercial trains and transports more than 5 million passengers and more than 250,000 tonnes of goods. TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries. The SNCF's TGV has set many world speed records,

2809-421: Was the work of terrorists. On 19 November, SNCF announced the initial findings of their investigation. The train's event recorder indicated that the train entered the curve at 265km/h and was travelling at 243km/h at the moment it derailed, which investigators have determined to be a result of centrifugal forces . The speed at the moment of derailment was 67km/h above the train's assigned operating speed on

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