Probe into wide trains scandal
Government orders SNCF and RFF to investigate how wrong measurements were given to train suppliers
THE FRENCH government has ordered SNCF and Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) to investigate how a new fleet of trains were ordered that were too wide for many stations.
As reported yesterday, SNCF’s new generation of regional trains - due to be rolled out by 2016 - are too wide to enter an estimated 1,300 stations across France, necessitating a €50m adaptation programme to “shave” up to 20cm off platforms.
Politicians and web users were quick to condemn the rail operators.
Valérie Rabault, the Socialist rapporteur from the parliamentary budget committee, called for the resignation of SNCF boss Guillaume Pepy.
She said: "€50m is a lot of money and we are the laughing stock of the international press.”
Secretary of state for transport Frédéric Cuvillier called the situation, “tragically comical” and reminded both SNCF and RFF that Parliament is due to discuss reform of the railways in the coming weeks.
The UMP’s former minister of transport Dominique Bussereau questioned the €50m cost of adapting stations. He told LCI: “I think the work will not cost tens of millions but hundreds. And I think the final amount may exceed €300m.”
Front National leader Marine Le Pen echoed Mr Bussereau’s sentiment. She called the €50m repair bill a “gross underestimation”.
Socialist party chief Jean-Christophe Cambadélis weighed in with: “It's absolutely astounding. Frankly, I don't understand.”
And UMP leader Jean-François Copé called the situation “Kafkaesque”.
RFF President Jacques Rapoport, however, accepted that the problem had been discovered “a little late” but described the cost of repairs as necessary for the comfort of rail users.
Meanwhile, SNCF’s Mr Pepy refused to comment on calls for his resignation, saying only that: “Neither Jacques Rapoport nor I are politicians.”
Photo: Jean-Louis Zimmermann
