French rail operator orders hundreds of new trains too big for platforms

[OOOOPS!]

State-owned operator SNCF insisted only 341 of the new TER trains are affected but French weekly Le Canard enchaîné claimed the number was closer to 2,000 when it revealed the faux-par on Wednesday.

The expensive blunder is costing £40.4 million (€50 million) to fix, as building work is carried out to chip away at platforms to give the trains room to pass through.

The affected platforms make up 15 per cent of all stations in France and work has already started to widen platforms by the few centimetres needed.

Officials said the mistake happened when engineers relied on measurements from the French railway network RFF without realising that they only applied to newer stations.

Older stations, mainly in the Rhône-Alpes and Midi-Pyrénées regions, have narrower tracks.

In a statement, RFF said it was normal for the infrastructure to be adapted when new equipment comes in, citing examples in 2003 and 2005.

A spokesman added: “Work on some platforms will not change the deployment of the new Régiolis et Régio2N trains, which will be on time and according to the schedule agreed by RFF, SNCF and regional councils.”

The head of the network, Jacques Rapoport, acknowledged that the problem was discovered the “a little late”.

France’s Transport Minister, Frederic Cuvillier, demanded an inquiry into the “incredible” mistake.

“When you separate the rail operator from the train company, this is what happens,” he added.