Sylvie Charles, chairman of the executive board of STVA, the vehicle transport subsidiary of French state-owned rail provider SNCF, has been named as director of the freight division – SNCF Fret – following the departure of Luc Nadal. She will take up her new role at the beginning of February.
Pierre Enderlé, currently managing director of STVA Group, will replace Charles as chairman of the executive board.
Charles will report to Pierre Blayau who oversees SNCF's entire freight transport and logistics division, as well as its Geodis subsidiary. He has now added the SNCF Fret business to his commitments following Nadal’s departure.
Mr Nadal left his position just four months into the latest attempt to rescue the loss making freight division of SNCF. According to an unnamed source quoted in French newspaper Le Figaro, there were questions over Nadal’s management techniques.
The French government is investing over €7 billion ($9.8 billion) to increase the amount of freight moved by rail in the country, with SNCF contributing €1 billion of its own funds.
It is the biggest rail freight investment programme France has seen and is designed to increase freight moved by rail from 14% to 25% by 2022. It is however the sixth rescue plan in over 12 years that SNCF has unveiled for SNCF Fret.
In 2010, SNCF’s management intends to continue the implementation of its "Ambition 2012" project, aimed at doubling its financial results. It hopes to grow sales this year by 30% to €30 billion.
Sylvie Charles joined STVA in 2001 and was appointed chairman of STVA’s executive board in April 2004. Prior to this she held positions in the passenger transport sector, as the managing director of Cariane, a bus company, and later as the deputy general manager of GTI, a European bus and train group.
