History of the SNCF

The National company of the railroads French was created the 1938. From this date, its history practically merges with that of the Railroads in France, since the SNCF takes again the concession near total of the French rail network, except for some secondary lines, until the creation of RF in 1997.

It is created in the form of a Public limit company of mixed economy whose State had 51% of the capital. It takes again the credit and the personnel of the private wide-area networks (Compagnie of North, the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean, Paris-Orleans-Midday, Compagnie of the East) or public (Réseau West-State, Réseau Alsace-Lorraine). Its first president was Pierre Guinand, first president with the Court of Auditors, which will be dislocated by the Vichy government in 1940, and its first managing director, Robert Besnerais, former managing director of the company of North.

As of the first years of its existence, the SNCF is subjected the proof Second world war during which it undergoes immense destruction.

Two Date S important will mark out thereafter the statutory evolution of the SNCF:

  • the 1983, its transformation into public corporation related to commercial industrial and (ÉPIC), whose capital belongs entirely to the State and who preserves his company name and his initials the SNCF.
  • the 1997, the Property and the Responsabilité for the network are transferred to a new EPIC, Rail network of France, the SNCF preserving only the mission of exploiting the services of goods transport and travellers. It remains however the deputy manager of the Infrastructure for the account of RF. It is also on this date that the transfer from the Compétence of the regional transport to the administrative Régions begins.

On the technical plan and commercial, the launching of TGV on Paris-Lyon the September 22nd 1981 marked a decisive turn, by starting again the travellers activity of the SNCF.

Last outstanding date, the June 13rd 2005, opening concretes Concurrence on the network of the SNCF with the circulation of the first train of private Fret (Connex).

The convention of 1937

The convention of 1937 defines the SNCF as a Public limit company mixed control by the Code of the trade. The object of the company is the exploitation of the network which is state-owned property and whose SNCF is dealer, the possible construction of new lines, as well as the participation in all operations being attached to its social object.

Its capital, equal to 1.419.412 000 francs of the time, is distributed between the old companies (49%) and the State (51%). The contribution of this last is made up on the one hand by its contributions in kind (Alsace-Lorraine Network and network of the State), on the other hand by its refundable advances either on the building work of lines or in subsidy of exploitation. The actions of the private companies are gradually redeemable during 45 years, that is to say until in 1982, date on which the totality of the capital returned to the State.

The board of directors counts 33 members of which blackjacks indicated by the State, among which its president is selected, named by decree in the Council of Ministers. The State is also represented by the managing director of the Surface transports (Ministry for Transport) and by the chief of the mission of financial control of the railroads (Ministry for Finances).

This convention was amended thereafter, in particular in 1952 and 1971, in particular on the question of the standardization of the accounts.

The organization of the SNCF

The new business copied its organization on that of the old private companies. Those were found, with few things close, in the forms of five areas (Is (Company of the East and Alsace-Lorraine network), North (Company of North), West (State), South-west (Po-Midday), South-east (PLM), whose seat was in Paris, chapeautées by a central management in charge of overall coordination. The principal task of this direction was initially the unification of the payments of exploitation and indication, as well as material.

Each area comprised three great services: the “operations department”, charged with the organization of the circulation of the trains and the relations with the customers, the “service material and traction” in charge of the maintenance of the park of rolling stock and control, the “service sees and buildings” in charge with the maintenance and the construction of the lines and the Gare S. Each service cut out with the local plan in “districts” whose limits generally coincided between services, but not always.

In 1947 a sixth area, the “Mediterranean area” was created with for seat, Marseilles.

This organization, strongly centralized and based on technical functions, remained until the reform of the structures of 1972. It should be noted that in the absence of true competition, it did not comprise commercial department.

The first president of the SNCF was Pierre Guinand, former first president of the Court of Auditors, which was dislocated of its functions by the Vichy government in September 1940 and replaced by Pierre-Eugene Fournier. The first managing director was Robert Besnerais, former managing director of the Compagnie of the railroads of the North which remained in function until 1945, where it was excluded from the SNCF by setting in early withdrawal within the framework of measurements of purification.

The SNCF during the occupation

See also police Collaboration under the mode of Vichy

As of the signature of the Franco-German Armistice of June 22nd, 1940, pursuant to article 13 of the convention of armistice, the Railroads (just as the roads and inland waterways) are placed at the disposal of the occupant in the occupied Zone, that is to say two thirds of the network of the SNCF in June 1940), which fixes the priorities. The organization installation leaves however the responsibility for the exploitation and operation with the SNCF under the monitoring of a German military organization, the WVD ( Wehrmachtverkehrsdirektion ) whose seat is with Paris (except for Northern part of the networks and Is depend on the WVD of Brussels). The network Alsace-Lorraine of its east coast attached to the Reichsbahn starting from July 1st 1940. As of the summer 1940, the German occupant carries out taking away of material, the first bearing order on 1000 Locomotive S and 35.000 Wagon S.

After the raid of Vel d' Hiv the 16 July 17th 1942, the Juif S stopped are off-set S by the Autorité S Frenchwomen in trains of the SNCF towards the camps of Drancy, Pithiviers and Beaune-the-Rolande. The October 31st 1942, an locomotive engineer, Leon Bronchart, refused to drive a train of Juif S towards the deportation. It is the only known case. Trains of deportees left towards the German border until in 1944.

Lawsuit

In 1998 after the judgment of the former minister Maurice Papon, the Georges brothers and Guy Lipietz and S. (Guy is the half-brother of Georges and does not wish that its name be revealed) decide to attack the State and the SNCF for complicity of Crime against humanity towards half of the 76.000 Jews Déporté S of France. In May 2006 the lawsuit, continued by the family Lipietz after the death of Georges Lipietz, arrives in audience. The French State and the SNCF are condemned in first authority on June 6th, 2006. The court recognized that the State and the SNCF made more than what the Germans asked them , the judges estimated. The court did not come to a conclusion about the complicity of crime against humanity

The SNCF invoiced the Transport Juifs, Tziganes and Homosexuels in the livestock wagons with the tariff of third class. And continued to claim the payment after the Libération. It is as allowed as the direction of the SNCF voluntarily worsened the transport conditions of the Jews.

The SNCF made call of this decision. The position of the company, expressed by its chairman, Louis Gallois, in the press is that the SNCF acted under the constraint because it requisitioned and availability of the Nazi S under the convention of armistice. It specifies that “the choice of the coaches, the composition of the trains, their routes and their schedules were fixed by the German authorities or those of Vichy”. He recalls that since 1992, the SNCF placed its Archives at the disposal of the researchers, in particular of the Institut of history of time present of CNRS. The SNCF indeed ordered a report/ratio with CNRS on its activities under the Occupation. According to its Welsh chairman, the Duty to remember should not be a duty of repentance for actions controlled and financed by the German occupying army. Many historians condemned this initiative, affirming, in the same vein as Welsh, than " should not be confused; Duty to remember " and judiciarisation of the history. Alain Lipietz denied itself the charges carried against him, while affirming:

“ Special correspondent of June 15th recalled that whereas the direction “naturally” deprived the Jewish deportees of water, of food and of air, during tens of hours (without order in this direction neither of Vichy nor of the Nazis), the railwaymen directed on their coaches overheated the pumps of the stations in order to refresh them a little… Charles Tillon tells how, Montlucon, in 1943, manif railwaymen, after having blocked ten times the engine, allowed the total release of a train of deportees (of necessary of STO). A mechanic of Montauban, Leon Bronchart, refused to drive a train of deportee: he was put at foot of the SNCF and reinstated in the Release. August 12th 1944, all the deposits of the Parisian SNCF are in insurrectionary strike. One fights in Austerlitz. The same day, the SNCF quietly sends the invoice of the train of transferring of my parents to the prefecture of Haute-Garonne. FFI of Ravanel will pay without barguigner… ”

The SNCF, was also continued with the the United States, where it was defended by Arno Klarsfeld, for similar reasons. The plaintiffs since were déboutés of their request. The SNCF being prevailed of the immunity of which it has in the United States as a representative a State.

See too

References

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