As one of France’s largest energy consumers, SNCF has long been committed to responsible energy consumption. Its efforts focus on: 

• Energy sufficiency—deliberately reducing and controlling energy consumption to use only what we need, for example through eco-driving and eco-parking
• Energy efficiency—improving the performance of our rolling stock and equipment to deliver the same service using less energy

Lowering SNCF Group’s energy consumption: 

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
• Supports national efforts to manage energy supplies
• Lowers financial costs
   

We have committed to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030—by 30% in our transport activities and 50% in our buildings.

Together, SNCF’s train traction, buildings and road service vehicles consume an average of 9 TWh a year—so there are several key areas for improvement.

The keys to our strategy are:

• wider adoption of green driving, with drivers fine-tuning train speeds
• green parking, which means shutting off engines as soon as possible to avoid wasteful idling
• innovative technologies to improve traction energy efficiency, like the aerodynamic design of new-generation TGVs.

We’re testing innovative technologies to reduce the rail network’s energy consumption:

• on lightly travelled lines, our automated start-and-stop system disconnects electrical substations when trains aren’t running
• at Paris-Montparnasse station, we’re installing superconducting wires that are more efficient than copper wires, are 100% recyclable, and conduct high voltage electricity without any loss.

We’re constructing more sustainable buildings, upgrading insulation, fine-tuning heating and cooling systems to reduce energy use, replacing existing lighting with low-consumption bulbs—all of which help make our buildings more energy-efficient. 

• Eliminating oil-fired boilers by 2025, installing over 1 million sq. m. of solar panels in our stations by 2030 and creating solar farms on SNCF land
• Increasing the share of renewable energy in our mix (up 14% between 2023 and 2024)
• Generating our own solar power on SNCF land and in our stations
   

Learn more about our first sustainable train station

We launched a new subsidiary in 2023, SNCF Renouvelables, to install solar arrays on available land and building rooftops. Our goal is to generate 20% of the energy we consume by 2030. By 2050, we want to be energy-independent.

Fun fact: One freight train can haul as much cargo as 40 lorries.

Not only that, but each tonne of freight transported by Fret SNCF:

• requires 6 times less Energy
• and emits 14 times less pollution

We’re adopting better habits to limit power usage by office IT workstations, employee PCs and tablets, and our datacentre servers.

That means:

• extending the life of our IT Equipment
• doing the small things, like remembering to turn off personal and company devices when not in use
• shrinking the amount of data individuals use—our Mon e-Carbone app calculates carbon emissions related to digital equipment and cleans up large, obsolete or duplicate emails