Looks like someone from France’s national rail operator is currently on track for getting fired…
If you’re going to spend €15bn on new trains, then it might be a good idea to measure the tracks and platforms in various stations all around the country, as some might have been built slightly differently than others.
That’s what we imagine Captain Hindsight is saying to French rail officials today after they discovered that 2000 newly-ordered trains are “too wide” for some regional platforms.
But how can the platforms be different in the first place? Surely someone used a ruler instead of just guessing?
Well, the c*ck-up is all thanks to the French national rail operator, RFF, who got the measurements from platforms that are only 30-years-old, even though many of France’s regional stations were built more than 50-years ago – back when trains, and people, were a little bit narrower.
The blunder has already cost the RFF a further €50m in widening platforms and that will only increase as they have at least another 1000 platforms to go.
According to BBC News, the French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier blamed an “absurd rail system” for the problems.
“When you separate the rail operator from the train company,” he said, “this is what happens”.
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