Macron names Jean-Pierre Farandou as new head of SNCF
The French state-owned railways SNCF will have a new boss. According to various reports in the media, President Emmanuel Macron has chosen Jean-Pierre Farandou as the new director of SNCF. The Elysée confirmed this information to the newspaper Le Monde and added this statement: "Upon the recommendation of the prime minister, the president of the republic is considering appointing Jean-Pierre Farandou director of SNCF."
Farandou replaces Guillaume Pepy, who has led SNCF for ten years. Macron thanked him for his service. Farandou has been working in various roles for the French railways since 1981. For example, he was in charge of the introduction of the TGV Paris-Lille and worked for the launching of the Thalys in Brussels (Belgium).
Since 2006 he has been head of the SNCF subsidiary that operates local transport services in several European countries as well as in Australia, China, India, USA, Canada and UAE. (mw)