--- description: New trains are too fat to fit in some stations. Talk about a faux pas title: France Spent $20 Billion in Trains ‘Too Wide’ To Fit In Some Stations image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt456e85810c4bba00/6986907735ba6f04f9c021b6/france-tgv-train.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # France's $20B Train Snafu by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2014 10:07 PM CUT  The first French fast train TGV (an abbreviation of the French 'train a grande vitesse' which translates as high speed train) from Zurich in Switzerland arrives at Gare de l'Est in Paris on June 10, 2007. The first French fast train TGV (an abbreviation of the French 'train a grande vitesse' which translates as high speed train) from Zurich in Switzerland arrives at Gare de l'Est in Paris on June 10, 2007.Lucas Dolega—EPA by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2014 10:07 PM CUT The upcoming train for Paris, now arriving at terminal five will be… completely stuck. That’s what almost happened in France where the country’s main train company [ordered a fleet of new trains](http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/21/travel/france-trains-sncf/ "undefined") too fat to fit in thousands of stations. France’s national rail operator SNCF, which runs the prestigious TGV fast trains that are a source of pride for the French,[ spent 15 billion euros ($20.5 billion)](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303749904579575851220114542 "undefined") on regional trains that are too wide for 1,300 stations, meaning platforms [will have to be “shaved”](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10845789/French-rail-company-order-2000-trains-too-wide-for-platforms.html "undefined") to avoid getting stuck. Confirming the reports of the mistake, the French train company admitted that the wider trains, built to “meet the public’s expectations requires the modernisation of 1,300 platforms out of a total of 8,700 in the French railways.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/108252/france-trains-too-wide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/108252/france-trains-too-wide/"},"headline":"France's $20B Train Snafu","datePublished":"2014-05-21T22:07:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:58:59.227Z","description":"New trains are too fat to fit in some stations. Talk about a faux pas","url":"https://time.com/108252/france-trains-too-wide/","keywords":["France"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt456e85810c4bba00/6986907735ba6f04f9c021b6/france-tgv-train.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt456e85810c4bba00/6986907735ba6f04f9c021b6/france-tgv-train.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"France TGV Train","caption":"France TGV Train","creditText":"Lucas Dolega—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/108252/france-trains-too-wide/","name":"France's $20B Train Snafu"}}]}] ```