The French Parliament greenlit the appointment of Jean Castex as the new chief executive of SNCF on Wednesday, 22 October.
The proposal was tabled in late September by French President Emmanuel Macron, following the end of Jean‑Pierre Farandou’s term at the helm of SNCF. However, Castex will not take over directly from Farandou but from Laurent Trevisani, who has been acting as interim president and CEO since 16 October, after Farandou was appointed Minister for Labour and Solidarity.
Castex, who served as Prime Minister between July 2020 and May 2022 and has since been steering RATP, will move from running the Paris transport authority to heading the national railway operator once his appointment is rubber‑stamped in the coming days.
In his hearing before MPs, he stressed the pressing need for heavy public investment to overhaul France’s ageing rail infrastructure, under strain from competition on the tracks and climate impacts. He welcomed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s pledge to maintain a framework bill securing funds for the sector.
Castex put it plainly: “more trains, and better trains.” He flagged major challenges ahead — market liberalisation, ecological transition and the network’s limited capacity to meet passenger demand — and vowed to “keep the group on the same track” to protect SNCF’s identity.
He also reiterated his backing for night trains and freight traffic, floating the idea of running overnight services on high‑speed main lines while conventional routes undergo engineering works.