See BBC website >LINK<

It certainly got a hearty chuckle from me this morning. It's also gone worldwide almost instantly. I'd love to hear some of the French cabinet ministers off the record comments.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/...3204/#dashboard/follows/

Oh well, they're not the only ones. North and south bound trains can't use platforms 1 and 2 simultaneously at Gosford station (north of Sydney on the Central Coast) because the tracks were built too close together in the days of narrower trains. For those members not fortunate enough to live in Oz, the main line to the north of Sydney (to Newcastle and ultimately Brisbane) passes through Gosford.

Hi,

Great story ...

Knowing that RFF inherited all the debt when they were split from the SNCF in 1997, just a few numbers first (not the latest ones ...) for an idea of the scale here :

SNCF (2003) ;
_657 subsidiaries, 58 000 salaried employees
_Revenue = 6.86 billion euros / Net profit = 16 million euros
_Lost 300 million euros to boarding cheats last year

RFF (2010) ;
_1300 salaried employees and 14 500 contractors (since 1997 RFF has opted for outsourcing ...)
_Revenue = 4.6 billion euros / Purchases = 6.2 billion euros
_Inherited real estate = more than 100 000 hectares (nice layout !)
_35 000 km of track, 30 000 km open to active traffic and second only in size to Germany's DB Netz
_RFF, in 2007, dealt with 27 000 acts of vandalism costing 15 million euros

Now, please find the "official" press release signed both by SNCF and RFF attached (in French), and a "Le Monde" newspaper rendition here (also in French):
http://www.lemonde.fr/ec...ogique_4423330_3234.html

Some essential lines translated (no red faces here) :

The directors of the SNCF (Société National des Chemins de Fer [rolling stock operator and transporter]) and RFF (Réseau Ferré de France [national rail infrastructure operator]), Guillaume Pepy and Jacques Rapoport, are under fire from criticism about having ordered regional trains too wide for certain stations: a few extra centimeters which are going to require at least 50 million euros of works.

- "Logical"

Both directors held a common press conference on Wednesday, May 21st in the evening. On the content, they do not see any problems.

"Every time we roll out new equipment ..., it is completely logical that an adaptation of the infrastructure is necessary. It's our job to run 21st century rolling stock on 19th century infrastructure", said Jacques Rapoport.

They recognize nevertheless a dysfunction: having "noticed a bit late that we had platforms to be re-adjusted", according to the director of RFF, or identifying dimensions in 2011 for orders placed in 2009 with a roll out of TER (Trains Express Régional) planned between 2014 and 2016.

- No additional costs

Jacques Rapoport also defended the purchase of wider trains to answer to the increase in TER traffic.

"If we want the same capacity [with trains of actual width], it would be necessary to buy 15 % more trains, that is 50 more trains [for a sum of] 400 million euros."

The RFF director also asserted that "no additional financing" will be requested to adapt certain platforms upon the arrival of these TER wider than the old ones. These costs according to him will have no consequence on the price of tickets. The 50 million euros are financed within the framework of a regular 4 billion euro annual investment.

- Plea for railroad reform

This affair comes out less than a week before the examination in committee of the proposed bill on the railroad reform, and one month before the first reading to the National Assembly.

The opportunity for its defenders to hammer that nothing of the sort would have happened with this reform, which plans that the SNCF and RFF become two dependent entities within the same group.

... So, when you read all that, you can imagine what this is all about ...

_Is it strange that this story breaks a month before a crucial vote on a bill to regroup the two entities, and two days before yesterday's employee strike ? Not really ...
_Does 50 million euros to update 19th century platforms really count when RFF has an annual operating budget of 4 billion euros every year to update infrastructure ? Not really ...
_To respond to the building of "Europe" with market competition as an objective, the splitting of the SNCF into two entities was decided under F. Mitterand (leftist party) and enacted under J. Chirac (rightist party) in 1997. Is it surprising that the left now in power and seriously low in the polls for basic economic reasons (Minister Cuvillier in particular) is pushing for reform ? Not really ...

Once again, unhealthy political gamesmanship leaking disinformation to the press from the helm is at play here, and nothing else ... ^^

Why do I conclude that ? Well, cause I work for and with both SNCF and RFF at the moment ... and I tell you this story is a real non-issue, imho ... !

But of course, please make up your own mind ... ;)

Y

PS: Reminds me of the spat between Germany and France when they tried to hook up the electrical wiring on the Airbus A380 and 2 meters were missing because each was using their own design software, LOL ! ... Did it slow down production ? Yep. Did it kill the A380 program ? No !
And so it goes ...

Yep Jacques

Not to highjack this specific event related thread, and loading gauges aside, SNCF/RFF management quality in general could be a whole new post ... ^^ !

Y