When a passenger discovers that their TER has been canceled for the third time in a month, and learns about the salary of the CEO of SNCF, the reaction is often immediate. The controversy surrounding the salary of the leader of the public railway company does not arise from an abstract debate about fairness. It emerges from a perceived gap between the daily lives of travelers, that of railway workers, and the figures circulating on the CEO’s pay slip.
Transformation into a public limited company and salary cap for the SNCF CEO
In 2020, SNCF became a public limited company. This change in status brought the CEO’s salary under the recommendations of the Afep-Medef code on corporate governance.
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Specifically, the state shareholder established a harmonized indicative cap of around 450,000 euros gross (fixed plus variable) for senior executives of public companies. This framework aligns the case of SNCF with those of EDF and La Poste, according to a communication from the Court of Auditors to the finance committee of the National Assembly in December 2023.
A detailed analysis of the salary of the SNCF CEO on Autour 2 Moi places these amounts in their regulatory context. The transition to public limited company status has created ambiguity: SNCF remains funded by public money, but its leader is paid according to scales inspired by the private sector.
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Variable compensation criteria: punctuality, service quality, and financial objectives
Since 2023, the variable part of the SNCF CEO’s salary has been more explicitly tied to punctuality and service quality objectives, and no longer solely to internal financial criteria such as net income or debt reduction. This is highlighted in the SNCF SA 2023 annual report.
This evolution responds to a recurring criticism: for years, a leader could receive all of their bonuses even when delays for TGVs or TERs accumulated. The link between performance perceived by the user and the CEO’s compensation remained tenuous.
The criteria that now come into play can be detailed:
- The punctuality of trains on main lines, measured across the entire network and not just on TGVs
- Service quality indicators (passenger information, cleanliness, complaint handling rate)
- Classic financial objectives (productivity, debt management, consolidated net income)
Feedback varies on this point: some unions believe that these criteria remain too favorable to the leader, as the thresholds for triggering bonuses are not made public in detail.
Subcontracting and wage gap: the contrast fueling the controversy
The contestation does not only concern the gross salary amount. Since 2024, it has also been fueled by the contrast between the CEO’s salary and the wage conditions of SNCF’s subcontractors. Onboard catering, cleaning, security: these tasks, historically performed by railway workers, have been largely outsourced.
Employees of these subcontractors are often paid at the minimum wage or just above. Repeated strikes have affected companies like Newrest or Onet, regular service providers for SNCF. Unions point out that the increase in the CEO’s salary coincides with this massive outsourcing.
The criticism is precise: the payroll is reduced by removing positions from the status of railway worker, while maintaining a high level of compensation for executives. For a cleaning agent working onboard a TGV without benefiting from the SNCF regime, the gap with the CEO’s salary becomes a symbol.
A difficult-to-justify scissors effect publicly
The public company generates significant profits (Jean-Pierre Farandou mentioned a result of 1.3 billion euros in a context of debate about funding for railway workers’ end-of-career benefits). This profit makes the justification of extreme salary disparities more complicated in the eyes of public opinion.
When a public company generates comfortable margins while heavily relying on minimum wage subcontracting, the CEO’s compensation crystallizes tensions. The debate then transcends the individual CEO to question the governance of public companies as a whole.
Comparison with public sector leaders: EDF, La Poste, and ministers
The controversy intensifies as soon as comparisons are made. The salary cap established by the state for leaders of public companies also applies to EDF and La Poste. In practice, the amounts remain similar from one group to another, but it is SNCF that attracts media attention because every user has a direct experience of the rail service.
The other comparison that consistently arises concerns the salary of a minister. Jean-Pierre Farandou, who became Minister of Labor, saw his salary reduced by a third upon leaving the SNCF leadership. This transition from private to public to political has made the gap even more visible.
The elements that feed this comparison include:
- A public company CEO earns several times the salary of a minister, while both hold responsibilities related to the public interest
- Benefits in kind (official housing, vehicle, representation expenses) add to the gross salary without always appearing in the reported figures
- Variable bonuses can represent a significant portion of total compensation, making comparisons based solely on fixed salary misleading
The weight of public status in perception
A CAC 40 CEO earning several million euros provokes less reaction than a public company leader earning four or five times less. The reason lies in funding: SNCF receives public subsidies, and its users pay for a service that is sometimes perceived as degraded. The link between taxpayer money and executive compensation makes every euro more scrutinized.
The controversy surrounding the salary of the SNCF CEO is not limited to a single amount. It reflects a structural tension between the market logic applied to a public company and the public service expectations held by users and railway workers. The gap between top compensation and working conditions at the base remains one of the most closely monitored indicators by unions, parliamentarians, and the media.