French Rail Operator SNCF Left Red Faced

[Garry Russell]

Le

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05 ... d=webmail1

[rohan]

If I understand this report correctly, the space between the platforms at older stations is narrower and the new trains are "too fat", yet the platforms with problems are being widened ...

[Tako_Kichi]

If I understand this report correctly, the space between the platforms at older stations is narrower and the new trains are "too fat", yet the platforms with problems are being widened ...

I think this is either bad grammar on the part of the reporter/copy writer or a misunderstanding of information provided. I think the real situation is that the problem stations will have the gap between the platforms made wider so the fatter trains will fit without hitting the platform walls.

When I first moved over here I thought it was odd that the railway stations didn't have platforms and you accessed the trains via stairs (built into each carriage) from ground level but I guess if you then introduce wider trains it makes no difference to the stations as there are no platforms to hit.

[Garry Russell]

Good point Larry...with steps not platforms, this just couldn't happen.

Also makes it easier to get off if the train has to stop anywhere in an emergency or breakdown.

No gap to mind either.

[VEGAS]

The French have one of the most successful rail infrastructures in the world.

On a par with the Japanese. Safe, efficient and incredibly fast.

Hopefully they'll sort this hiccup out 'toot suite' without too much damage to their reputation.

[TSR2]

The problem is that SNCF was split up several years ago under instruction from Brussels. This was a bitter pill to swallow for a rail network that was all of the above, and most Frenchmen were very unhappy about it. Most would argue this this little faux pas is a result of the enforced break up by Brussels of something that worked very well.

[rohan]

... and you accessed the trains via stairs (built into each carriage) from ground level ...

Doesn't this lead to an issue for those passengers who have some sort of mobility problem ? Do some carriages, for example, have some sort of lift for wheelchair users ?

... No gap to mind either.

Hope the gap doesn't become extinct if people stop minding it ...

[Tako_Kichi]

... and you accessed the trains via stairs (built into each carriage) from ground level ...

Doesn't this lead to an issue for those passengers who have some sort of mobility problem ? Do some carriages, for example, have some sort of lift for wheelchair users ?

I just did some quick research and apparently the ground level stations have portable wheelchair lifts which raise a wheelchair up to the train corridor level so that they can roll onto the train.