Quelle horreur! New French trains too big for stations:

There is an old American saying that apparently never crossed the pond into France. It is “measure twice and cut once!”

The French government recently spent 20 billion dollars (yes a “B” not and “M”) on developing a new fleet of trains that would be the talk to the world when they were completed and it certainly turned out that way but not with the accolades the French expected.

If this guy above that is holding his head and was Italian, I would guess he is say “Ma Ma Mia!!” or if he was an American he would be saying “son of a bitch!!”

As health conscious as the French people are about their waistlines and staying slim, “someone” didn’t do their homework and made their new fleet of trains too fat.

There are 1,300 stations in France that were built before 1930 that the new train cannot fit into because of the trains’ waist line; they are obese.

It is impossible at this point to slim down the new trains so the government has started retrofitting all of the stations platforms that “Bertha” cannot fit into. The cost of the retro will shake out at to the tune of 68 million dollars. I will give you one guess who is footing the bill. You are exacto/correcto, the French taxpayers.

As I have alluded to before in many of my blogs, I have never see the top brass take the blame for any malfunction. Somehow the little guy always takes the rap.

In this strange case, the company that built the trains said that “some worker” gave them the incorrect measurements. Yes “some worker.”

Common sense tells me, if I were awarded a 20 billion dollar contract for any project, I would go to the job site with a golden ruler and make them measurements myself or at least not rely on some unqualified worker.

If that weak explanation is correct, I would say that the main culprit in this sad scenario of a “train wreck” should be the train maker and the government should not have to foot the entire bill of the renovations of the platforms. That is why companies have insurance, in case the guy with the ruler makes a mistake.

As the French have described their dilemma “Quelle horreur!” (what horror).

We still have to give our French cousins a pat on their caboose, they still hold the world’s record for the fastest train at a speed of 357 miles per hour. Quite an achievement.

Don’t feel badly our French cousins; we still love you.

Viva La France