French railway operator SNCF has confirmed that it made an order for 2000 trains costing 15bn euros ($20.5bn) that are too wide for a large number of old stations – an embarrassing mistake that has left them with red faces and lighter pockets.
The platform edge is too close to the rails at 1,300 of 8,700 platforms and it has been estimated that the costs for widening these old stations will be €50m ($68m), with reports expecting that figure to rise. Work has already begun on the stations but more than 1000 remain to be altered.
Christophe Piednoel, a spokesman for the RFF national rail operator confirmed the mistake on France Info radio station by saying, “We discovered the problem a bit late, we recognise that and we accept responsibility on that score,” and followed up by describing the mishap ”as if you have bought a Ferrari that you want to park in your garage, and you realise that your garage isn’t exactly the right size to fit a Ferrari because you didn’t have a Ferrari before. We discovered the problem a little late … we are making our mea culpa.”
The mistake came when RFF, which operates France’s rail network, gave false dimensions to the SCNF who operate the trains, who then failed to confirm and verify the dimensions. The RFF hadsent dimensions for train stations that were up to 30 years old, but many stations that were built over 50 years ago are still in operation.
French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier blamed an “absurd rail system” for the problems calling the situation a “comic drama”. In a statement he blamed the previous centre-right administration’s decision to separate the rail network from the train network by saying, ”When you separate the rail operator from the train company, this is what happens.”
The new regional trains, known as TERs (trains express regionaux) were set to improve the rail system in France but the mishap has led to a large unwanted blow to the budget. SNCF and RFF said in a joint statement on Wednesday, “Putting this network of new generation and larger trains in order to satisfy public demand will require the modernisation of 1,300 platforms out of the 8,700 in the French rail network.”
There’s a lesson to be learnt here and the mistake of several centimetres has led to an extra (minimum) expenditure of €50m.
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