SNCF Mistake over Width of Trains

Image Courtesy of Alstom

The French company SNCF have made a big mistake when it came to the release of their train being too wide. SNCF had produced 2,000 new trains to be widely distributed, as part of a larger 15bn contract. The trains have been made too wide for most of the regional platforms and the company are extremely embarrassed about this mistake. So far this has cost SNCF 50 million.

Construction work has begun on station platforms to reconstruct them to fit the wider trains. This will ensure that the trains will be able to pass through, without further damage. But officials have said that there are 1000 platforms to be adjusted.

RFF Makes Platform Mistake

The reason for this mistake was the dimensions that RFF, a national rail operator, had give SNCF. The platforms that are having to be adjusted are only 30 years old and the dimension were based off the size of french regional platforms from 50 years ago, where trains were much slimmer.

A spokesman for the RFF confirmed they had “discovered the problem a bit late”.

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.”