Thursday, May 22, 2014

Wide of the Mark




The news today has been all about French trains.

A few years ago the French government decided to order new high-speed intercity trains.  They would be designed by the same company that makes the TGV, the French bullet train - one of the symbols of French technological mastery.  The train would have a new chassis, new engine and sleek new look.  Ah, the grandeur !

The train took several years and billions of dollars to develop.  Unfortunately, they forgot to budget for a tape measure.

It seems that this new train is a few inches too wide to fit into French train stations.  Well, ok, not ALL of them.  Just…um…er…thousands.  So many more millions will be spent retrofitting the stations.

I blame the metric system.

KVS

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