Hardware engineering: unique, integrated engineering

Engineering is at the heart of SNCF Voyageurs Matériel. At the service of its customers to meet or anticipate their needs, it implements solutions, innovations and adaptations on a wider scale:

• for today's and tomorrow's trains, such as the TGV M, the RER NG, future INTERCITÉS trains, etc. ;
• for ever more efficient and economical maintenance, not forgetting rail safety.

Equipment Engineering is :

• Expertise in all the functions of railway rolling stock and its interfaces;
• Recognized experience in all phases of the rolling stock life cycle;
• A force to be reckoned with when making proposals to operators, to help them specify their needs in technical terms, for their trains to be commissioned or renovated;
• A unique and consistent expertise in maintenance engineering, including the definition of maintenance rules;
• An entity capable of analyzing performance and carrying out tests of all kinds;
• Decisive expertise in safety, reliability, maintenance, interoperability and customer comfort;
• Europe's leading safety equipment testing laboratory;
• Over 400 transformation & renovation, acquisition and safety equipment projects.

From design to specification, rail testing and maintenance, to operation, Rolling Stock Engineering guarantees the safety of its rolling stock and is concerned with its ecological footprint throughout the rolling stock cycle.

Equipment Engineering teams are divided between the head office teams of the Equipment Department, the 5 engineering clusters located throughout France, the Equipment Engineering Center (CIM) and the Rail Testing Agency (AEF).

The mission of the 5 Clusters is to meet operators' expectations and enhance maintenance know-how on a daily basis. Their distribution throughout France strengthens the SNCF Group's local roots and ensures close proximity to Technicentres. Synergy between engineering teams improves quality and performance in the service of customers.

The Agence d'Essai Ferroviaire carries out a wide range of missions, making an essential contribution to the safety, reliability and maintenance of rolling stock. In particular, it is responsible for line tests on new or converted rolling stock, with test trains covering an average of 262,000 km each year. It employs 200 technicians and engineers to improve the functionality and comfort of all types of rolling stock, and carries out more than 10,000 services a year, as well as 1,100 test or expert reports each year. Its ultra-modern 3,000 m² laboratory boasts 15,000 measuring instruments, and houses the company's physico-chemical and metallurgical activities.

The Rolling Stock Engineering Center employs 350 technicians and engineers who work in collaboration with the Technicenters. Its mission is to define the technical specifications of new rolling stock, thanks to its major expertise in the fields of rail interoperability, accessibility for people with reduced mobility, passenger comfort and ecomobility.

Its various departments, specialized in design, paintwork and brakes, determine the transformations to be carried out.