Gares & Connexions is the fifth and most recent of the SNCF business units. Its job is to renovate and develop the 3000 rail stations in the network - no mean feat! In addition to managing the stations, Gares & Connexions is responsible for station development and investment plans, in collaboration with local authorities and stakeholders. It has two key commitments - making progress in the fundamentals of station service, and modernising and adapting the stations.

The primary vocation of stations is to act as an interchange, a point of connection between the town and the railway, and between other modes of transport. All the thinking that is now going into new transport networks, the revival of the tram and the tram-train is strengthening and regenerating the connection between the town and other modes of transport. Gares & Connexions is not the only body involved in sustainable transport, but it does have an important role in this area.

Our objectives are laid down by the French Act of December 2009 - to operate with transparency and without discrimination, showing fairness to all operators who use our stations. This has involved producing terms of reference, thinking about how different rail companies should operate in the same stations, and developing a service offer and pricing structure, which describes the basic services an operator should expect from a station and the terms under which the space within the station is shared. The railway regulator ARAF will function as the railway ombudsman. This is an independent public body that will ensure that all operators in the industry are able to operate on an equal footing.