Super-fast train suffers delays

The TGV: Goes fast, but often arrives late

By James Coomarasamy in Paris

The French state railway company, SNCF, has confirmed that the new high-speed train service (TGV) between Paris and Marseilles has suffered from serious delays in its first month in service.

SNCF has had to pay out millions of francs to passengers who have suffered as a result.

The Paris to Marseilles TGV line was launched amid huge fanfare a month ago.

By allowing passengers to cover the distance in about three hours, the FF25bn ($3bn) route has set new standards for high-speed rail travel in Europe.

Teething trouble

But officials from the French state railway company, the SNCF, has admitted the service has broken a rather more embarrassing record - for delays.

In the line's first month in operation the SNCF has had to pay out compensation of several million francs to passengers who arrived late at their destination.

That is a sum equal to the average monthly compensation the company pays for delays across the entire French railway network.

Officials put it down to teething troubles and point out that 40% of the delays were due to a whole raft of unforeseen problems from demonstrations to suicides, to a rave party which was held on a railway-line in the southern region of Vaucluse.