French rail operator RFF has been embarrassed following a costly mix-up over a planned network expansion.<br /><br />An RFF spokesperson confirmed the SNCF rail company had ordered 15 billion euro worth of new trains that are too wide for most platforms.<br /><br />Investors are indignant about the mistake.<br /><br />“We refuse to pay a single cent for these repairs,” said Alain Rousset, President of the Association of Regions of France. “We cannot be taken for fools and pay for the privilege!”<br /><br />Satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné broke the story. The blunder appears to have happened when the RFF gave SNCF wrong dimensions; dimensions based on newer, larger stations when most of the country’s regional platforms are more narrow.<br /><br />Work to alter the affected stations has already started, reportedly at a cost of around 50 million euro to date.<br /><br />But it risks being an arduous process, with a thousand platforms still in need of adjustment, according to officials.
