Connecting regions across France: Occitanie
Find out how we support around a thousand jobs in the region and work with all our stakeholders to make lives better.
We contribute to the region’s economic growth
11,535
SNCF Group employees in 2024
€816m
in purchases from local suppliers
66%
of our suppliers—924 in all—are SMEs and very small businesses
Developing rail freight
In 2023, Rail Logistics Europe transported 5.5 million tonnes of merchandise into or out of Occitanie, which is home to the Le Boulou intermodal hub in the Pyrénées-Orientales department and the Port of Sète in the Hérault department, making it a key region for rail motorways.
Port of Sète on track to become multimodal hub
The rail platform operated by VIIA at Sète is set for a major improvement—an upgrade that promises to revolutionize how cargo is handled. New horizontal transfer technology (HTT) slides trailers onto wagons, slashing turnaround times for maritime and rail transport. Making this new option available to local industry will facilitate transfers of all types of semi-trailers heading for destinations across Europe. The aim is to consolidate the strategic rail connection between Sète on the Mediterranean coast and Calais in northern France—and ultimately carry 40,000 trailers a year by rail.
Actively enhancing quality of life in the region
In Nîmes, a social grocery store under the SNCF viaduct
Since February 2025, a solidarity grocery store has set up shop in a historic railway arch near the train station in downtown Nîmes. Charity organization Table Ouverte rents this 860 sq feet unused space free of charge on boulevard Talabot thanks to the help of SNCF Immobilier and SNCF Réseau, owner of this railway viaduct. More than 300 families in difficulty come every week to do their grocery shopping thanks to the help of the local food bank. In the near future, organic food will be delivered in the neighbouring archways, which will also host an upcycled goods shop as well as a second-hand clothes shop.
How SNCF helped a social grocery store set shop in Occitanie
France’s first eco-sustainable railway station
In Nîmes, our AREP and Gares & Connexions teams designed the first eco-sustainable station in France. Opting for sustainable materials, Nîmes Pont-du-Gard station is a bold response to the climate issues facing the world today, protecting biodiversity and using renewable energy. In September 2020 the station was certified as an Occitanie Sustainable Building.
Powering efficient, effective public transportation
The Nîmes Métropole consortium of cities has picked Keolis to run its Tango urban transport network, serving 39 towns and communities, for the next 6 years. Goals for the project include:
- launch Tram’bus line T5, a rapid transit line
- extend line T4
- improve the lines’ commercial speed
- deploy on-demand transport serving the Nîmes university hospital centre, the city’s leading business areas, and TGV stations
- run 86% of fleet vehicles on alternative power sources—electricity, biogas and biofuel
- install 4,700 metres of solar canopies
A modern rail network
SNCF Réseau is working hard to make sure rail infrastructure in the region is safe and robust.
Current projects:
- Upgrading lines north of Toulouse—€900 million, joint funding.
- Modernizing track between Toulouse and Castelnaudary—€12 million, funded by SNCF Réseau.
- Modernizing catenaries on the POLT line connecting Cahors and Lamothe—€26 million, funded by SNCF Réseau.
- Modernizing catenaries on the Montpellier - Sète line—€17 million, funded by SNCF Réseau.
Powering the green transition
Replacing diesel engines with batteries
In partnership with Alstom and the Occitanie region, which has supplied a high-capacity self-propelled trainset, SNCF Voyageurs is currently testing a battery-powered TER. Commercial service for the now fully electric trainset will get a trial run starting in december 2025 on the Nîmes – Le Grau du Roi line.
Using hybrid trains
The hybrid trains developed by Alstom and CAF use power supplied by catenaries, thermal engines and batteries. We began testing them on the lines serving Toulouse in late 2023, and they have covered more than 8,000 km since.
Using biofuel
Since 2020, Keolis Languedoc coaches have been running on Oleo100 biofuel, a 100% plant-based alternative to fossil fuels that’s made from rapeseed grown in France. Today, more than 130 buses and coaches in the region—33% of the Keolis Méditerranée fleet—use alternative fuels: BioGNV, electricity, and B100 and HVO biofuels.
Bédarieux hosts Restos du Cœur charity
Since December 2021, Restos du Cœur—a charity that distributes food and hot meals—has operating out of a 228 m2 space inside the station. The non-profit’s 42 volunteers serve 3,600 meals a week. This community-building project is led by the Bédarieux city government.
Teaching the next generation about rail safety
During the 2023-24 school year, we brought our IMS outreach programmes to 9,003 students in Occitanie between the ages of 9 and 18—a 196% increase over the previous year. Along with class presentations, we organized safety field trips to Saint-Roch station in Montpellier and Narbonne station, and reached students virtually using a vintage-style mobile game called Gare à Toi.
We support high-impact regional non-profits
The SNCF Foundation is proud to support impactful cultural and civic initiatives through our collaboration with 10 regional non-profits. Together, we foster programmes for aspiring entrepreneurs, workshops that teach young people career skills, and focused efforts to build a more inclusive society with stronger social connections—all while championing the green transition.
In Occitanie, our work in uniting local NGOs has led to two collaborative projects designed to inspire young people to drive meaningful change.
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