
French railway operator orders hundreds of new trains that are too big - kercker
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/21/french-railway-operator-sncf-orders-trains-too-big
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Argorak
Probably a better source is this:

[http://www.france24.com/en/20140521-french-trains-wide-
old-s...](http://www.france24.com/en/20140521-french-trains-wide-old-stations-
sncf-order/)

a) This only applies to very old platforms, build by standards over 50 years
ago. b) If the trains were ordered by the older standards, i can imagine an
issue that newer platforms would need to be widened (modern trains try to
provide gapless entry).

So, all in all, the problem was found late (unfortunate), but the real problem
is: platforms following different standards which should probably be unified
anyways.

~~~
icefox
Sounds like a long term win anyway, now all future trains can be wider.

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robzyb
The article makes it sound horrible, but I wonder how bad it really is.

For instance, they've "only" spent $50m so far compensating. That's only 0.33%
of the total $15bn budget for the trains.

Even if they end up spending a whole $1bn widening platforms - that's "only" a
6.66% cost blowout.

In the context of infrastructure projects, a <10% budget blowout doesn't sound
so bad :P

~~~
anigbrowl
Compared to the clusterfuck of extending the San Francisco subway system, it
sounds like a bargain. By contrast, I've grown to _love_ the subway system in
LA to the point that I look forward to visiting so I can ride it.

~~~
batiudrami
Holy crap, someone who loves LA public transport? Admittedly SF's is...odd,
but I'd say it's much better than LA's.

They're both got nothing on NY or Chicago though, obviously.

Edit: This is from a tourist perspective to all four cities, so I only have a
little experience with each of them.

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makmanalp
I read some speculation on a reddit thread that this was no accident but a
backhanded way of forcing modernization: Enough money and effort goes into
supporting old trains and train stations in terms of switching trains,
personnel, repairs, little bridges to fit smaller trains into wide stations
etc that the difference between that and going ahead with the modernization
wouldn't be that big.

But if there were political objections to such a renovation project from some
unknown group, this would be a good way to force their hand.

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anigbrowl
_Construction work has begun on widening hundreds of platforms._

I hope he means narrowing them, otherwise the problem is just going to get
worse :)

~~~
herbig
The trains are too wide or the platforms are too narrow. One of those problems
needs to be addressed.

~~~
anigbrowl
I guess in rail terminology the platform includes the track section, but I
always think of it as the part you stand on while you're waiting for the train
since that is the part that is raised above track level - so wider track areas
would necessitate narrower platforms. The definition of platform is a raised
surface, after all.

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dang
Url changed from [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-27502184](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27502184).

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kolev
Poor journalism across the board! None of the articles mentions any specifics.
How much _wider_?!

~~~
informatimago
In any case it is rather insignificant, on the order of the decimeter!

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ChuckMcM
So I wonder if they will re-do the stations or re-do the trains. It seems the
older stations which are too narrow would probably benefit from an upgrade,
but I could imagine they might not have the space to make them any wider than
they are now.

~~~
meric
They're going to first spend €400m upgrading their train station platforms by
widening the space for train tracks, and then later we'll find out on Hacker
News: "200 Upgraded French Train Platforms 'too thin for pedestrian traffic'".

~~~
doxcf434
Right, the french pedestrian network will have failed to communicate the
correct specifications to the platform operators.

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bloodmoney
Well fuck me runnin

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ekianjo
Ah, the SNCF... they are professionals in wasting public money and slackers in
everything. I can't remember the number of times my train was delayed,
cancelled, or stopped in the middle of the countryside for no reason. And when
shit happens, there's one thing you can expect from them: zero communication
and zero responsibilities.

~~~
sirdogealot
I was staying in Paris, France for a few months with a local friend a while
back... she worked for SNCF.

Apparently suicide is a huge problem in France, and most of the time when a
train is delayed or you are stopped in the middle of the tracks it's because
they're quickly picking up body parts.

That's also the reason for the lack of communication on behalf of the train
operators.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_France)

~~~
ekianjo
Let me call BS on that. Japan has way more suicides on its railways (because
it has both more trains and more suicides in the first place than France) and
the Japan Rail company always communicate on the reasons of their delays, EVEN
when it's about a suicide. And delays are never in number of hours for these
kind of cases, but rather about 20 to 40 mins max.

Another example from the SCNF, from my own experience. One the TGV (bullet
train) stopped nowhere and we waited more than 2 hours wondering what was
happening. There was no communication. Only when we arrived at the destination
we were told the train hit a wild boar or something like that and that was the
reason for us stopping. Seriously, why keeping everyone in the dark ? Complete
lack of process and customer service. That's what the SNCF is.

It's very telling how they refer to their clients as being "usagers" (users,
but in the worst possible choice of word in French) instead of referring to
them as customers.

~~~
informatimago
Fact is that usagers are not customers: SNCF travels are paid by the taxpayer!

~~~
ekianjo
And that's precisely why it does not work well.

