France Spends Over $4 Billion On Trains ‘Too Wide’ For Stations
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A massive oversight saw France’s national train operator SNCF purchase 341 new trains that were “too wide” for about 1,300 of its existing platforms, reported Radio France Internationale on Wednesday.
According to RFI, SNCF had spent over $4 billion on the acquisition, only to discover that many of the nation’s train stations were unable to fit the new trains.
A massive oversight saw France’s national train operator SNCF purchase 341 new trains that were “too wide” for about 1,300 of its existing platforms, reported Radio France Internationale on Wednesday.
According to RFI, SNCF had spent over $4 billion on the acquisition, only to discover that many of the nation’s train stations were unable to fit the new trains.
The problem had arose when they approached the national rail operator RFF for dimensions of platforms during the bidding process, but RFF only gave the dimensions of platforms built less than 30 years ago, whereas a significant portion were built more than 50 years ago.
[quote]”We discovered the problem a bit late, we recognise that and we accept responsibility on that score,” a spokesman for RFF said.[/quote]RFF will reportedly now spend over 80 million euros ($110 million) to “shave a few centimetres off” each platform.
[quote]“It’s as if you bought a Ferrari that you wanted to park in your garage and you realised that your garage is not exactly the right size for your Ferrari to fit in because you’ve never had a Ferrari before,” admitted the RFF spokesman.[/quote]SNCF said that the trains had been wider in order to meet an expected 40 percent increase commuter traffic. It added that alterations to the platform would likely cost just about 1.25 percent of its annual maintenance and infrastructure budget.
But the system has already met with public ridicule, with even French transport minister Frederic Cuvillier describing it as “absurd”.
“When you separate the rail operator from the train company … this is what happens,” he said.
Cuvillier has launched a plan to merge the two companies, despite opposition by rail unions.
Related: French Unemployment Crisis Could Last A Decade, Warns IMF
The 341 new trains – 182 built by French company Alstom, 159 by Canada’s Bombardier – are to start operating over the course of the next two and a half years.
RFF boss Jacques Rapoport gave his personal guarantee that ticket prices would not be affected.
“These trains are new. Whenever we introduce new rolling stock, we need to change the infrastructure,” he said.
