Date: 21/05/2014

It is a minor miscalculation, but one that will cost the French taxpayer a fortune. France’s national rail operator SNCF - which runs its prestigious TGV fast trains - has sparked hilarity, anger and ridicule after building a new generation of regional trains that are too wide for 1,300 stations, meaning platforms will have to be “shaved” to stop them getting stuck. The appalling blunder, which the French transport minister on Wednesday dubbed “comically tragic”, has already reportedly cost the state-controlled SNCF some 50 million (£40.5 million), sparking uproar at a time of austerity. [From John Thorn]

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French rail company order 2,000 trains too wide for platforms

Telegraph

France's national rail operator admits it has already spent €50 million on 'shaving' 1,300 platforms that are too narrow to fit new trains