The bill, which the upper house Senate will approve in a vote on Thursday, turns the SNCF into a joint-stock company, giving its management greater corporate responsibility, will phase out its domestic passenger monopoly from 2020 and put an end to generous benefits and pensions for future employees. French ministers and members of parliament leave the questions to the government session prior to the vote for the French government's SNCF reform bill at the National Assembly in Paris Thomson Reuters PARIS (Reuters) - France's National Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill to overhaul the state-run SNCF railway company on Wednesday, backing President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break the unions and reform the economy. The 452 to 80 vote in the National Assembly, where Mr Macron’s République En Marche party has an absolute majority, was largely a formality after a committee of the lower house and the senate agreed joint amendments to the legislation on Monday. The new law will turn the SNCF into a joint-stock company, giving its management greater corporate responsibility, will phase out its domestic passenger monopoly from 2020 and put an end to generous benefits and pensions for future employees. A poll showed voters largely on board with the changes, unswayed by 30 days of strikes since early April that have caused headaches for millions of travellers on two days out of every five. Unions had planned to call off the strike on June 28, but CGT Cheminots chief Laurent Brun said his members would carry on with their walkouts into the busy summer season. “I now urge the unions to take stock of their responsibilities.”

The government has also said it will write off 35 billion euros of the SNCF’s 47 billion euros ($55 billion) of debt, giving the company more room to maneuver and prepare for greater competition from other European operators.
The Senate of France approves a bill to reform the SNCF railway company. The French state writes off €35 billion of SNCF's €47 billion debt, but remains the sole owner of the joint-stock company with two subsidiaries: operator SNCF Mobility and infrastructure manager SNCF Network.