Our commitment to accessibility
Putting accessibility into practice is at the heart of our corporate purpose. Find out how SNCF Group companies and their employees are making it a reality.
Find out what we’re doing
We’ve refurbished stations, trained employees, prepared for sports events, and more. Here’s a recap of our latest accessibility news.
More accessible Parisian train stations
Our refurbished stations in the Paris region are now much easier to navigate for pregnant women, for passengers with disabilities, and for travellers with pushchairs or bulky luggage.
At SNCF Group, we’re working with everyone in the rail transport sector. As network manager, SNCF Réseau coordinates our accessibility policy in tandem with groups representing customers with disabilities and reduced mobility. SNCF Réseau also works with its subsidiary, SNCF Gares et Connexions, which makes stations accessible and supports our customers. Transport providers partner with both SNCF companies to develop mobility solutions for one and all.
12 million
In France, accessibility matters to 12 million people with disabilities and reduced mobility
In 2024 we delivered
Over 1M
support services in French railway stations (+20% vs 2023)
319,000
people have used Mon Assistant Visuel
What we do
Making rail transport accessible means working steadily across multiple fronts on different timescales. Key areas include:
- carrying out works to make platforms and passenger terminals accessible
- improving rolling stock
- using human and digital resources to provide support services to passengers with disabilities, in stations and aboard our trains
- training SNCF employees to meet the special needs of our most vulnerable customers
Guided by the law
Since 2005, France’s law on equal rights and opportunities1 has guided both public and private actors, helping them improve accessibility in transport and many other areas.
We began this essential effort more than 15 years ago, to make the travel experience accessible from end to end. This includes:
- the built environment in stations
- platforms
- platform access, including elevated and underground walkways
- amenities in trains
- the ticket purchasing process, support services for people with disabilities and reduced mobility, and complaint services
An accessibility division within SNCF Group
We also created an Accessibility Division to coordinate the players within SNCF Group and ensure that our efforts keep pace with regulatory requirements.
In accordance with the New Railway Pact2, our Accessibility Division is attached to General Directorate of Clients and Territories of SNCF Réseau, which is responsible for ensuring that the French rail system treats all transport providers fairly.
Financial and human investments
Under our policy of improving accessibility, we have resolved to:
- invest in better accessibility in stations, on platforms and aboard trains3
- set up appropriate services, including a reliable assistance and support service for travellers with disabilities and reduced mobility, from a reception centre in the station to the right seat on their train
- train customer-facing employees to respond as effectively as possible to the special expectations of people with disabilities.
Progress report
Want to know what rail system players have already done to develop train travel for all? Read the annual reports of SNCF Réseau’s Accessibility Division, available in accessible format.
Training our agents—first the theoretical part ...
Our employees are deeply involved in supporting passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility. To guide them, we designed a training programme in partnership with the whole community of transport providers and OUI Académie4. Employees learn about the regulatory environment, different types of disability, and the best way to interact with people based on the nature of their disability.
...then the practical aspects
The training programme—designed in partnership with nonprofits representing people with disabilities and reduced mobility—also includes a practical component specifically for employees who provide support services to our customers. They learn technical skills, from guiding a visually impaired person through a station, to operating a platform lift to let a wheelchair user board.
Committed to accessibility
Assistance in stations
We offer free in-station support to people with disabilities and/or limited mobility, with assistance services in both departure and arrival stations.
Over the course of five years, the number of accessible stations has doubled, and 80% of our stations will be accessible by the end of 2025.
Managing Director of SNCF Gares & Connexions, and Deputy Managing Director of SNCF Group in charge of Transformation
Assistance on trains
We help people with disabilities or reduced mobility navigate the station and make sure they’re comfortably settled on their train.