Replacing cotton made in Asia with French linen, thus is the feat achieved by Cepovett, a family-run business based in Villefranche-sur-Saône  producing the protective workwear for our agents. It took close to five years of R&D to bring this project, a world first, to fruition: never before had linen been used to make professional clothes. As a result, the production has been relocated in Normandy, where Terre de Lin is in charge of making linen, later woven in Grand Est in the Tenthorey factory.

Each year, SNCF’s 25,000 public-facing employees require the replacement of approximately 250,000 pieces of uniforms—shirts, jerseys, sweaters, vests, jackets, coats, scarves, caps and more. Through years of experimentation and R&D, we’ve developed an industrial use for discarded workwear. This circular economy initiative is rooted in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, where used clothing is sent to the Nouvelles Fibres Textiles plant in Amplepuis to extract fibres. These fibres are then delivered to textile makers Tissages de Charlieu in the Loire department where they are used to make new garments.

In partnership with Alstom and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, SNCF Voyageurs is currently testing battery-powered TER regional trains. The aim is to replace bi-modal trainsets that use power supplied by catenaries and thermal engines with fully electric models, replacing thermal engines with lithium-ion batteries. Commercial service will start up on a trial basis in 2025 on the line connecting Lyon to Bourg-en-Bresse.

We joined Thibaut Caron, a TER driver in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes for SNCF Voyageurs, for his visit to secondary school students in Voiron, in the Isère department. The goal: raise awareness. During the 2023-24 school year, we brought our IMS school outreach programmes to 11,602 students in the region, a 45% increase from the previous year.

SNCF Réseau is funding major regeneration work across the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to improve rail infrastructure and enhance the passenger experience. Key projects include:

• New rail sections: to free up space for the “Autoroute du Chablais” motorway, a new rail section is under construction between Machilly and Thonon-les-Bains. Work on the construction site near Saint-Rambert-d’Albon, in the Drôme department, is moving ahead year-round.
• Track modernization: the Valence - Moirans - Grenoble line is undergoing a complete overhaul throughout 2025, with a factory train replacing existing tracks.
• Catenary upgrades: from April to July 2025, we’re modernizing catenary installations between Annecy and La Roche-sur-Foron. The project involves replacing poles and equipment along 35 km of the Léman Express line that connects the two cities. The estimated cost of the work is €14 million.
• Centralized command centre: a new traffic control hub is being built for the Rhône Valley, consolidating operations for the Chasse-sur-Rhône sector. We’ve also replaced signalling equipment on the line between Saint-Fons and Tain l’Hermitage. The entire €41 million investment package is fully funded by SNCF Réseau.

We support 11 high-impact non-profits in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, focusing on mentoring initiatives that empower young people to step up and succeed. Our partners’ projects are designed to keep struggling teens in school, help young women in working-class areas gain control of their lives and take charge of their futures, promote awareness of career paths for women in the digital economy, offer early training for green transition jobs, support projects that promote sustainable development, and provide training in agro-ecology.

Watch below an interview with a spokesperson from our partner Article 1.