The SNCF's science and engineering community keeps the company growing and is networking to push forward the 200 projects currently underway.

All about the people. The core team are the 120 researchers from our Innovation & Research division - 60 permanent staff and 60 graduate and post-doc students or interns carrying out research projects. Specialised engineering teams work in specific fields such as rolling stock, infrastructure or information systems. All in all, nearly 4,000 people are involved. 92 hand-picked scientific and technical experts from this pool have been brought together by the SNCF to form the Synapses team. This "network within a network" has been given the role of passing on and developing knowledge, representing the SNCF on standardisation committees and getting involved with the company's research programme.

Methods for their work vary depending on the subjects studied. The LAB is a place where breakthrough ideas can be generated. For a few months at a time, a specific topic is studied - for instance infrastructure maintenance in densely-populated areas. Exploratory projects are launched to try out new ideas. Applications are tested internally or in collaboration with external partners.

Tools of the trade The SNCF's 4,000 scientists and engineers have their own web-based social network, drawing together everyone involved with the SNCF research programme, with external partners, research laboratories, universities and corporate researches associated. This collaborative system has been designed as a place where ideas can be shared - a library, a groupwork forum and a pool of talent from which project teams can be formed. It's a cutting-edge tool for promoting innovation.

More information