Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)
Thu May 22, 2014, 07:51 AM May 2014

Oops.. (French trains are too fat)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27502184

Two thousand new French trains 'too fat for railway'

21 May 2014 Last updated at 10:57 BST

The French train operator SNCF has discovered that 2,000 new trains it ordered at a cost of 15bn euros ($20.5bn; £12.1bn) are too wide for many regional platforms.

The blunder has so far cost the rail operator over 50m euros ($68.4m; £40.6m).

Construction work has begun on widening hundreds of platforms.

Christian Fraser in Paris says it is "an embarrassing situation".
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Oops.. (French trains are too fat) (Original Post) SoCalDem May 2014 OP
Send them to the gym shenmue May 2014 #1
Yikes! That's a serious error. Laelth May 2014 #2
Reminds me of the time they built a nuclear plant with a backwards blueprint. Octafish May 2014 #3
If I lived in France, my caboose would be oversized too. chrisa May 2014 #4
The food is superb but the portions are not over-large, and people walk a lot. nt MADem May 2014 #5
Say "cheese"! struggle4progress May 2014 #6
Surely, if the trains are too wide ... surrealAmerican May 2014 #7
Picky, picky you think words ought to mean what they mean? TexasProgresive May 2014 #8
I'm sure that's what they meant IronLionZion May 2014 #9
How do you say, "D'Oh!" in French? nt MrScorpio May 2014 #10
"Do these platforms make my caboose look fat?" 11 Bravo May 2014 #11

Laelth

(32,017 posts)
2. Yikes! That's a serious error.
Thu May 22, 2014, 07:56 AM
May 2014

Some heads will have to roll as a result of this blunder. That's a colossal waste of resources.

-Laelth

MADem

(135,425 posts)
5. The food is superb but the portions are not over-large, and people walk a lot. nt
Thu May 22, 2014, 08:22 AM
May 2014

surrealAmerican

(11,505 posts)
7. Surely, if the trains are too wide ...
Thu May 22, 2014, 08:57 AM
May 2014

... you would need to narrow, not widen, the platforms.

... or did they mean too long?

I feel like I need pictures for this one.

TexasProgresive

(12,325 posts)
8. Picky, picky you think words ought to mean what they mean?
Thu May 22, 2014, 09:13 AM
May 2014

Me too. I caught that and was wondering the same thing.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Oops.. (French trains are...