Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français

Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF)

Map of the French railways on which "TGV" or "Intercités" SNCF trains run. Only lines going to / from Paris are shown here.
TGV Atlantique - french high-speed train.
Reporting mark	TGV, Intercités, TER, Transilien, Ouigo, Eurostar, Thalys, TGV Lyria
Locale	France
Dates of operation	1938–present
Predecessor	Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord Administration des chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi et du Canal latéral à la Garonne Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est Administration des chemins de fer de l'État
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Length	29,273 km (18,189 mi)
Headquarters	Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
Website	www.sncf.com

SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français; "National society of French railways" or "French National Railway Corporation") is France's national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network. Its functions include operation of railway services for passengers and freight, and maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure.

SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe. The railway network consists of about 32,000 km (20,000 mi) of route, of which 1,800 km (1,100 mi) are high-speed lines and 14,500 km (9,000 mi) electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily. Since July 2013, SNCF headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2, place aux Étoiles, 93200 Saint Denis.

In 2010 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 2014 employed 245,763 people and had €27.2 billion of sales in 120 countries. The chairman of the SNCF group is Guillaume Pépy.

SNCF operates almost all of France's railway system, including the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, meaning "High-Speed Train"), In the 1970s, SNCF began the TGV high-speed train programme with the intention of creating the world's fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981, when the first TGV service, from Paris to Lyon, was inaugurated. Today, SNCF operates 1,850 km (about 1,150 miles) of designated high-speed track that accommodate more than 800 high-speed services per day. SNCF’s TGV trains carry more than 100 million passengers a year. TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries in addition to South Korea.

SNCF's TGV has set many world speed records, 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 25,000 hp (18,600 kW) engine, and broke the world speed record for conventional railway trains, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph).