SNCF reports €80 million summer revenue loss from heatwaves and wildfires

Financial toll from heatwaves and fires

On 1 October 2026, SNCF chief executive Jean Castex presented the company's summer assessment, stating that extreme heatwaves and wildfires caused 80 million euros in lost revenue during July and August. The financial losses resulted from cancellations and delays across the rail network. Castex confirmed that total revenue shortfalls since the start of the year reached 180 million euros, which will weigh on the state operator's financial results for the second half of the year.

Adding it up since the beginning of the year, we are at 180 million euros in lost revenue, not counting repair costs on the network.

Specific local events contributed to the financial strain, including wildfires in the Gironde department and the temporary closure of rail lines south of Bordeaux, which caused a 6 million euro loss for the group.

Service disruptions and customer assistance

Total passenger volume across the network reached 30 million people during the summer, maintaining levels seen in 2025. However, operational conditions deteriorated sharply under summer weather stresses. High-speed services carried 23 million passengers, with 164,000 travelers experiencing journey delays greater than 3 hours. SNCF Voyageurs head Jean-Aimé Mougenot, who took over the role during the summer following the replacement of Christophe Fanichet, reported that severe weather doubled the total minutes of train delays compared to summer 2025.

Train irregularity rates and total train cancellations also doubled compared to the summer of 2025. To assist travelers affected by cancellations and prolonged halts, SNCF funded 19,300 hotel rooms and arranged 6,800 taxi trips. The company distributed 168,000 meal boxes to TGV passengers delayed by at least 2 hours and provided 1.5 million bottles of water across the network.

Network adaptation and Intercités fleet upgrades

Conventional Intercités routes experienced the heaviest impact from summer climate disruptions, leading SNCF to execute three times as many preventive train cancellations as in summer 2025 on these corridors. The affected routes included the Paris to Clermont-Ferrand line and the axis linking Paris, Orléans, Limoges, and Toulouse. In response to these vulnerabilities, SNCF is preparing technical upgrades to adapt tracks and onboard air conditioning systems across the network before summer 2027.

The state operator also plans to deploy new Oxygène rolling stock to replace aging Corail trains on the Paris-Clermont and Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse lines starting in summer 2027. Spanish manufacturer CAF is assembling the new trainsets at its production facility in Reichshoffen in the Bas-Rhin department. Several of these Oxygène trainsets are currently conducting test runs on the SNCF railway network before entering regular passenger service.