Jean-Pierre Farandou

Chief Executive Officer

SNCF

Mr Farandou began his career in the Denver, Colorado office of Amax, a US-based mining company, and joined SNCF in 1981. He worked a full range of transport jobs—signaller, train driver and train controller— and rose through every level of operations management. He took part in the launch of three high-speed TGV lines: Paris-Lille in 1993 as project leader; Thalys in 1996 as Managing Director of Thalys International, an SNCF subsidiary; and the TGV Méditerranée in 2001, as Deputy Director for Main Lines. Mr Farandou then served as SNCF’s Regional Director for Rhône-Alpes before becoming Managing Director of Keolis Lyon, operator of the city’s bus, metro and light rail systems. From 1998 to 2000, he also served as head of SNCF’s HR executives, and in 2017 received the Cercle Humania Grand Prix, awarded to HR heads who become Chairmen. By 2006 he had joined SNCF’s Executive Committee, and that year he created and began managing SNCF’s Proximités division, which included Transilien, TER, Intercités and the Keolis-Effia Group. In 2012, Mr Farandou was named Deputy CEO of SNCF Group and began a seven-year term as Executive Board Chairman at Keolis, an urban transport specialist. As SNCF’s Chairman and CEO, Jean-Pierre Farandou is working with his management team to pursue the Group’s strategy of expanding rail use in France. He has also positioned SNCF Group as a global leader in achieving sustainable passenger and freight mobility by 2030, and as a vital player in meeting two of society��s most urgent needs—fighting climate change and promoting regional development—even as it rises to the challenge of a fully liberalized rail market. To achieve these aims, the Group is investing in its four main strengths: people, the ecological transition, regional development and innovation/digital technology—all in the service of SNCF’s customers and employees. Tous SNCF, its corporate strategy, was launched in 2020 and built with input from all of the Group’s companies, business units, facilities and employees. In addition to his responsibilities at SNCF Group, Mr Farandou served as Chairman of the Objectif Transport Public EIG from 2013 to 2015, and chaired France’s Union for Public and Rail Transport from 2014-2017. He also served as chairman of the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France from 2012 to 2014 and the Fondation CJC France from 2018 to 2019. Since 2021 he has been a member of the Guidance Committee of Institut de l’Entreprise, a French business group, and since 2023 he has served on the board of the Impact France movement and as President of Fer de France, a trade association for the French rail industry.