French state railway company SNCF said Wednesday it wants to put driverless trains on the country's tracks by 2023.

The initial goal is to have an autonomous train prototype ready in five years for use on slower regional and freight journeys. By 2025 SNCF hopes to have self-driving trains on regular routes.

"This is clearly the future of trains," SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy said in Paris on Wednesday.

SNCF said it is investing 57 million euros (66 million dollars) to develop a prototype train that could be used on France's existing rail network, parts of which stretch back a century.

Driverless trains would expand the country's rail capacity and increase punctuality, SNCF said. </s> Soon there won't be a driver to wave out the window

French railway operator SNCF said Wednesday it was planning to introduce prototypes of driverless mainline trains for passengers and freight by 2023, and include them in scheduled services in subsequent years.

"With autonomous trains, all the trains will run in a harmonized way and at the same speed," SNCF chairman Guillaume Pepy said in a statement. "The train system will become more fluid."

The operator hopes that the switch will allow it to run more trains on France's busiest mainlines, and cut energy consumption.

Many cities, including Paris, already run driverless metro trains but driverless long-distance travel presents a new set of challenges, Pepy said.

"Railways are an open system, and the unexpected is the rule," Pepy said.

SNCF will be partnering up with rolling stock specialists Alstom and Bombardier who will each be heading up consortia for freight and passenger traffic, respectively.

The shift to driverless trains is to happen in stages, Pierre Izard, who runs SNCF's rail technologies division, told AFP, "up to the most extreme of automatisation, when there is no human presence onboard".

Pepy said that autonomous trains "are clearly the future", but he also said it may take time before passengers accept boarding driverless trains.

Although Australia, China and Japan are already experimenting with driverless trains, France is not coming too late to the game, said Carole Desnost, head of innovation at SNCF.

SNCF said it was talking to German operator Deutsche Bahn about promoting a European standard for driverless trains.

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© 2018 AFP </s> "Autonomous" trains will all travel at the same speed and their movements will be harmonised, leading to a more frequent and more punctual service, Pepy predicted.

Energy consumption should go down, according to the plan, and there will be more trains on the most heavily used lines.

The SNCF joined other companies, notably engineering companies Alstom and Bombardier, in forming two consortiums, one to build freight trains, the other passenger ones.

The first freight trains, described as "drone trains", should be operating in 2021.

More completely automated freight trains and passenger trains should be ready in 2023.

The SNCF in contact with its German counterpart about the project, SNCF technology boss Pierre Izard said. </s> "With autonomous trains, all the trains will run in a harmonized way and at the same speed," SNCF chairman Guillaume Pepy said in a statement. "The train

system will become more fluid."

The operator hopes that the switch will allow it to run more trains on France's busiest mainlines, and cut energy consumption.

Many cities, including Paris, already run driverless metro trains but driverless long-distance travel presents a new set of challenges, Pepy said.

"Railways are an open system, and the unexpected is the rule," Pepy said.

SNCF will be partnering up with rolling stock specialists Alstom and Bombardier who will each be heading up consortia for freight and passenger traffic, respectively.

The shift to driverless trains is to happen in stages, Pierre Izard, who runs SNCF's rail technologies division, told AFP, "up to the most extreme of automatisation, when there is no human presence onboard".

Pepy said that autonomous trains "are clearly the future", but he also said it may take time before passengers accept boarding driverless trains.

Although Australia, China and Japan are already experimenting with driverless trains, France is not coming too late to the game, said Carole Desnost, head of innovation at SNCF.

SNCF said it was talking to German operator Deutsche Bahn about promoting a European standard for driverless trains. </s> (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File). FILE - This Thursday, June 2, 2016 file photo taken with a long shutter and using the zoom during exposure shows a train of the SNCF, France's national railway company, standing on the track during a strike at the Gar...

(AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File). FILE - In this Wednesday, June 1, 2016 file picture French rail workers burn a flare after installing rails during a demonstration in front of the French employers' union MEDEF's branch in Lyon, central France. French...

(AP Photo/Claude Paris, File). FILE - In this Monday June 16, 2014 file picture passengers walk along a platform to take a train at the Gare St-Charles station in Marseille, southern France. French Prime minister Edouard Philippe announced Monday a pla...

PARIS (AP) - French Prime minister Edouard Philippe has unveiled a plan aimed at making France's national railway company more efficient ahead of opening the service to competition.

Philippe insisted Monday that SNCF will remain state-owned and ensure "missions of public service" but that recently hired SNCF employees will not benefit from the company's advantageous special status anymore as regular labor rules will apply instead.

The government has decided to use a special procedure to pass the measure by summer and avoid a lengthy debate in parliament.

Three of SNCF's main unions have called a nationwide strike March 22 to protest against the plan.

Unlike several EU member states, France has not opened local and national passenger trains to competition. That's a change that will be required in coming years under European rules.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> PARIS (AP) - French Prime minister Edouard Philippe has unveiled a plan aimed at making France's national railway company more efficient ahead of opening the service to competition.

Philippe insisted Monday that SNCF will remain state-owned and ensure "missions of public service" but that recently hired SNCF employees will not benefit from the company's advantageous special status anymore as regular labor rules will apply instead.

The government has decided to use a special procedure to pass the measure by summer and avoid a lengthy debate in parliament.

Three of SNCF's main unions have called a nationwide strike March 22 to protest against the plan.

Unlike several EU member states, France has not opened local and national passenger trains to competition. That's a change that will be required in coming years under European rules.

FILE - This Thursday, June 2, 2016 file photo taken with a long shutter and using the zoom during exposure shows a train of the SNCF, France's national railway company, standing on the track during a strike at the Gare du Nord railway station, in Paris, France. French Prime minister Edouard Philippe announced Monday a plan aimed at making France's national railway company more efficient ahead of opening the service to competition. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File) </s> PARIS (Reuters) - France’s National Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill to overhaul the state-run SNCF railway company on Wednesday, backing President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to break the unions and reform the economy.

The bill, which the upper house Senate will approve in a vote on Thursday, turns the SNCF into a joint-stock company, giving its management greater corporate responsibility, will phase out its domestic passenger monopoly from 2020 and put an end to generous benefits and pensions for future employees.

The legislation, the most fundamental reform of the 150,000-strong company since nationalization in the 1930s, has been pushed through over the objections of unions, who have carried out nearly three months of strikes against the reforms. </s> France’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a Bill overhauling the indebted state-run rail company SNCF on Wednesday, handing a significant victory to President Emmanuel Macron in his bid to outflank the unions and reform the economy.

The 452 to 80 vote in the National Assembly, where Mr Macron’s République En Marche party has an absolute majority, was largely a formality after a committee of the lower house and the senate agreed joint amendments to the legislation on Monday.

The senate upper house will approve the Bill on Thursday.

It represents the most fundamental reform of the 150,000-strong SNCF since rail nationalisation in the 1930s, and Mr Macron has overcome a challenge that defeated previous administrations.

Conservative prime minister Alain Juppé had to withdraw welfare reforms in 1995 after weeks of strikes and social unrest led by rail workers.

The new law will turn the SNCF into a joint-stock company, giving its management greater corporate responsibility, will phase out its domestic passenger monopoly from 2020 and put an end to generous benefits and pensions for future employees.

At the same time, the government has committed not to sell any of the stock, a move to reassure unions that it won’t be privatised.

“The government has committed itself to our rail industry as no other has before us,” transport minister Elisabeth Borne told FranceInfo radio on Tuesday. “I now urge the unions to take stock of their responsibilities.”

The government has also said it will write off €35 billion of the SNCF’s €47 billion of debt, giving the company more room to manoeuvre and prepare for greater competition from other European operators.

France’s rail unions have been staunchly opposed to the reforms. In April they began three months of rolling strikes in protest, shutting down local, regional and international services for two days out of every five. Those stoppages are set to run until the end of June.At the start, the public expressed some sympathy – polls showed more than half of those surveyed thought the strikes were justified – but support has waned over time. Commuters have grown fed up with the disruptions and found ways around them, using car-sharing apps, telecommuting or cycling to work.

Gaps in the unions’ position have also emerged and been exploited – a tactic Mr Macron used to sound effect last year in securing the backing of the largest union, the CFDT, for reforms to the labour code to make hiring and firing easier. – Reuters </s> PARIS (Reuters) - France’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill overhauling the indebted state-run rail company SNCF on Wednesday, handing a significant victory to President Emmanuel Macron in his bid to outflank the unions and reform the economy.

The 452 to 80 vote in the National Assembly, where Macron’s Republique En Marche party has an absolute majority, was largely a formality after a committee of the lower house and the Senate agreed joint amendments to the legislation on Monday.

The Senate upper house will approve the bill on Thursday.

It represents the most fundamental reform of the 150,000-strong SNCF since rail nationalization in the 1930s, and Macron has overcome a challenge that defeated previous administrations.

Conservative Prime Minister Alain Juppe had to withdraw welfare reforms in 1995 after weeks of strikes and social unrest led by rail workers.

The new law will turn the SNCF into a joint-stock company, giving its management greater corporate responsibility, will phase out its domestic passenger monopoly from 2020 and put an end to generous benefits and pensions for future employees.

At the same time, the government has committed not to sell any of the stock, a move to reassure unions that it won’t be privatized.

“The government has committed itself to our rail industry as no other has before us,” Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne told FranceInfo radio on Tuesday. “I now urge the unions to take stock of their responsibilities.”

The government has also said it will write off 35 billion euros of the SNCF’s 47 billion euros ($55 billion) of debt, giving the company more room to maneuver and prepare for greater competition from other European operators.

View shows the voting results board in favor of the French government's SNCF reform bill at the National Assembly in Paris, June 13, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

AN OVERPLAYED HAND?

France’s rail unions have been staunchly opposed to the reforms. In April they began three months of rolling strikes in protest, shutting down local, regional and international services for two days out of every five. Those stoppages are set to run until the end of June.

At the start, the public expressed some sympathy — polls showed more than half of those surveyed thought the strikes were justified — but support has waned over time. Commuters have grown fed up with the disruptions and found ways around them, using car-sharing apps, telecommuting or cycling to work.

Gaps in the unions’ position have also emerged and been exploited — a tactic Macron used to sound effect last year in securing the backing of the largest union, the CFDT, for reforms to the labor code to make hiring and firing easier.

The CFDT, the most moderate of the larger unions as well as the biggest, has signaled it will accept the SNCF bill once it becomes law. When the rolling strikes end on June 28, its railworkers are expected to return to work.

The more militant CGT union remains firmly against, with 95 percent of its members voting against the legislation last month. Employees represented by the union have said they will pursue wildcat strikes from July.

But their ability to cause widespread disruption or win public sympathy appears limited. Many CGT unionists are among those who have gradually given up adhering to the strike.

For a graphic see tmsnrt.rs/2JnAdwO

“I think the unions may have overplayed their hand here,” said Bob Hancke, a professor of European political economy at the London School of Economics, describing the SNCF as “one of the last bastions of union power in France”.

Slideshow (13 Images)

A change in public sentiment toward organized labor — part of a broader social shift as younger people increasingly engage in the ‘gig’ economy and see the future in technology — has left the unions looking out of touch.

But Hancke warns that while it is an important symbolic victory for Macron, it may do little to improve the business climate in France or stimulate much-needed growth.
The French railway company SNCF announces prototypes for driverless passenger and freight trains by 2023.