Traveling by train

France's railways are operated almost entirely by the SNCF, getting around by train may be the best solution to visiting France as you wil be able to view many landscapes and be able to relax. Below is more on the French railway system. SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) (French National Railway Company) is a French public enterprise. Its functions include operation of rail services for passengers and freight, and maintenance as well as signalling of rail infrastructure owned by RFF (Réseau Ferré de France). It employs about 180,000 people. The rail network consists of about 32,000 km of route, of which 1,500 km is high-speed line and 14,500 km is electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily. The chairman of SNCF is Anne Marie Idrac. Its headquarters is in Paris, in the Rue du Commandant Mouchotte.
SNCF operates almost all of France's railway system, including the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, literally "high-speed train") and some segments of the RER. In the past, SNCF owned not only the trains, but also the tracks, but this has changed due to new European Union regulations. Since 1997 the tracks and other rail infrastructure have belonged to a separate government establishment, the Réseau Ferré de France; this change was intended to open the market to independent train operating companies, although few have yet appeared. There have been claims that this is mainly due to very restrictive regulations that are allegedly motivated by protectionism. For example, the licensing procedure for the multi-system ICE3M took four years, while the same train was allowed onto tracks in the Netherlands and Belgium within a year of its introduction.