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SNCF Réseau Performance Contract: What This Means for Train Service

Written by Sophie Renassia

Published today

Good news for trains! In May 2025, on our podcast Je t’offre un Rail?, Jean-Pierre Farandou, then CEO of SNCF, was very clear: according to him, the SNCF group was funding the network's regeneration on its own, and it wasn't enough. “We need to find another €1 billion from 2028.” A year and a half later, it's (almost) done: the state has just signed a contract that increases investment in the network by 50%. We explain what it contains, who's going to pay for it, and what's still to be settled.

What is the performance contract between the state and SNCF Réseau?

The performance contract is the roadmap the state sets for SNCF Réseau, the public company that manages the rails, catenaries, signaling, and civil engineering structures. It defines over ten years the amount of investment, the targets to be met, and the monitoring indicators. The new contract was signed on Thursday, November 12, 2026 by Philippe Tabarot, Minister of Transport, and Matthieu Chabanel, CEO of SNCF Réseau, in the presence of Jean Castex, CEO of the SNCF group.

The signing took place late in the evening, at 11:35 p.m., on a worksite renewing 13 km of rails between Clamart and Trappes, which the ministry presents as emblematic of the ramp-up in regeneration. Quite symbolic: the minister witnessed the replacement of rails by the BOA train-works, a piece of equipment unique in France that mechanizes and speeds up the work.

The text replaces the previous contract (2021-2030), unanimously deemed insufficient to renew the network. Philippe Tabarot himself had called it a “counter-performance contract” when he was a senator.

€4.5 billion per year: what the contract actually provides

The heart of the contract is a 50% increase in regeneration and modernization investment from 2028 compared with the previous contract, to reach €4.5 billion per year (in 2028 euros), in line with the conclusions of the Ambition France Transports conference of July 2025. In concrete terms, that's €1.5 billion more each year. Another new feature announced in the draft contract in June: the amount would be indexed to inflation from 2028, unlike the previous contract.

Renovating more tracks, catenaries, and bridges

The contract sets annual volumes of work:

• 1,000 km of tracks renovated per year, compared with 750 km today, and 45 civil engineering structures treated per year, compared with around 30 currently;
• according to the draft contract presented in June, 330 km of catenaries (the cables that power the trains) regenerated per year, i.e. +25% and more than 3,200 km between 2024 and 2033.

Modernizing signaling

Renovating isn't enough: we also need to run more trains on the same tracks. The draft contract provided for 60% more sectors managed by the network's centralized traffic control, reaching 89 sectors by 2033, and accelerated deployment of the European ERTMS signaling, in priority on the North and Atlantic high-speed lines.

Adapting the network to climate change

Heat waves, heavy rain, droughts: the network is suffering more and more from climate hazards.

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Adaptation is one of the four priorities of the contract. The June project detailed its content: target maintenance and monitoring on the most vulnerable areas (heavily vegetated or exposed to heavy rain), adjust train traffic if needed to protect infrastructure, and prioritize the renewal of the oldest catenaries, the 1500-volt ones, to avoid breaks during heat waves.

Aiming for +25% traffic by 2033

The ultimate goal is more trains. The contract aims for +25% traffic by the end of the contract, meaning nearly 800,000 additional high-speed, regional and freight trains in 2033 compared to 2024. In return, SNCF Réseau must reach a target of -25% debt by the end of the contract.

© Lisa Abitbol - Philippe Tabarot, Minister of Transport and Jean Castex, CEO of SNCF Group

Why the French rail network needed this boost

The French network is old. According to SNCF Réseau, a third of signal boxes still operate with mechanical levers, some dating back to the 1930s. An external audit conducted in 2022 for SNCF Réseau on the core network gave average ages of 30 years for tracks, 29 years for track equipment and 40 years for catenaries and substations.

An aging network means speed restrictions imposed for safety reasons, breakdowns and cascading delays. Jean-Pierre Farandou gave us a sense of the scale in our podcast. According to him, as early as 2028, 4,000 km of lines risked speed restrictions, affecting more than 2,000 trains per day.

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He also feared that France would follow Germany's trajectory, where a lack of investment caused punctuality to plummet.

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Who will fund the contract? The billion still to be found

Why do we sometimes hear €1 billion, sometimes €1.5 billion? In 2025, Jean-Pierre Farandou explained that the SNCF group contributed €3.5 billion per year and that €4.5 billion was needed. The State, for its part, adds €1.5 billion to the current €3 billion starting in 2028. Both arrive at the same target, €4.5 billion per year, but don't start from the same base.

Of these additional €1.5 billion, a third rests on the SNCF group's matching fund and the remaining two thirds on other sources, according to the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART). The SNCF group renewed its commitment to contribute €500 million from its own revenue. That leaves about €1 billion per year.

For this billion, the government announced two avenues at the signing:

• energy saving certificates (CEE): a program dedicated to the regeneration and modernization of the network, which should finance €241 million of operations in 2027 and 2028;
• a tax on motorways and major airports: a share of the additional revenue from the evolution of the tax on the operation of long-distance transport infrastructure (TEITLD), proposed in the 2027 finance bill. This reform should bring in about €800 million more per year, allocated from 2028 to an "Ambition Transports" fund at the AFITF, which finances the regeneration, modernization and adaptation of transport networks. These €800 million are therefore not reserved for rail.

The €241 million covers only two years, and the levy still depends on the 2027 budget vote. The ART even issued a mixed opinion on the contract project: it welcomes the investment effort and the enhanced performance monitoring, but calls for its funding to be secured. In other words, the contract sets an ambition, and it will be up to Parliament to fund it, budget after budget.

What it means for you when you take the train

In the short term, logically expect more works. Going from 750 to 1,000 km of track renovated per year means more worksites, hence more weekend line closures, replacement buses, and changed schedules.

The good news is that this work should be better anticipated. The three-year regeneration program and the review of the previous year's investments will be presented every year to the stakeholders in each region. The contract project also provided for reference operating plans, to give regions and operators 4 to 5 years of visibility on available slots and planned works.

Don't expect price drops either. The contract relies on continued increases in rail tolls, and the ART points out that these fees are already among the highest in Europe for freely organized services like the TGV.

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In the medium term, the goal is a more reliable network, with fewer slowdowns and breakdowns, and room for more trains. This is a condition for new operators, night trains, and new links to truly develop.

Branch lines, regions, budget: the contract's blind spots

The CEO of SNCF Réseau reminded the Senate that the contract covers four types of development: major projects, projects under the State-Region planning contracts (which notably include fine-territory service lines), the Serm, and projects dedicated to freight.

"Branch lines" therefore depend mostly on these planning contracts, co-financed by the regions. And those remain skeptical: Régions de France lamented funding that is not fully secured and the absence of regions in drafting the contract, warning that regions no longer have the means to take on more spending.

For its part, the government highlights an unprecedented consultation, carried out since June with the organizing authorities, including the regions. According to the ministry, these exchanges helped enrich the contract: each region will be presented with the three-year works program every year, TER slots will be better secured, and new service quality indicators will be worked out with them.

Then there's the question of tolls, which regions pay to run their TER: according to Régions de France, they increased by 23% between 2023 and 2026.

The other blind spot is duration. The contract runs until 2033, but its funding is decided every year in the finance law. The framework law on transport must set a new infrastructure funding model from 2032, notably thanks to motorway concession revenues. Adopted by the Senate on April 28, 2026 (310 votes to 19), then by the relevant committee of the National Assembly on July 2, it still had not been scheduled for a public session in early November. Regional elected officials and transport stakeholders called for its adoption before the 2027 presidential election.

Either way, in May 2025, Jean-Pierre Farandou told us we needed to "find €1 billion more" and called on everyone to mobilize. A year and a half later, the State is committing an additional €1.5 billion per year. So, despite the gray areas, let's not be sourpusses: for the first time in a long while, the network is no longer the adjustment variable but a stated priority, with more money, more works, and a clear goal: run more trains. The hardest part is still ahead, and budgets will have to follow. But the course is set, and that's also thanks to you, traveler who filled the trains in recent years and proved that the appetite for rail is well and truly there. We'll be following all of this closely!

Written by Sophie Renassia

Issue du monde de la communication et des médias, Sophie est Responsable éditoriale chez HOURRAIL ! depuis août 2024. Elle est notamment derrière le contenu éditorial du site ainsi que La Locomissive (de l'inspiration voyage bas carbone et des bons plans, un jeudi sur deux, gratuitement dans ta boîte mail !).

Convaincue que les changements d’habitude passent par la transformation de nos imaginaires, elle s’attache à montrer qu’il est possible de voyager autrement, de manière plus consciente, plus lente et plus joyeuse. Son objectif : rendre le slow travel accessible à toutes et tous, à travers des astuces, des décryptages et surtout, de nouveaux récits.

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