The aim of the investment is to offer passengers simple and practical travel solutions to encourage multimodal travel and simplify door-to-door journeys.
SNCF says 15% of French people use three or four different transport modes including public transport on a regular basis, and it wants to increase this to 30% by 2030.
In June SNCF will launch IDPass, an integrated system based on a card and a mobile app which enables the user to access the full range of SNCF fares and other services including car-sharing, bicycle hire, and local transport information. The service will be available in 15 major cities including Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Marseilles, and Strasbourg.
With the number of car-sharing users in Europe forecast to grow from 1 million in 2013 to 5 million in 2020, SNCF also sees opportunities to expand car-sharing services. Through a new partnership with Zipcar, rail passengers will be able to book a car within seconds via a mobile app and collect the vehicle using a smartphone. This service will be integrated into IDPass this summer.
A new SNCF journey planning app will also be launched which will allow passengers to plan non-rail elements of their journey. SNCF says the app will be updated every two weeks to take into account user feedback and it will replace existing apps by the end of the year.
