The Hindu Business Line : The French (rail) connection

"Gosh, we missed the train," a sudden fear gripped me. I felt as if I lost something precious. I looked around for my friend Biren, who had gone to the rest room.

The jetlag from the lousy eight-hour night flight from Mumbai to Paris had already worn me off my energy.

I sat on the nearby chair and checked the ticket that was printed mostly in French. But on the left corner of it, I could see the departure time printed in English as 10.15.

How could the French driver who was sent specially to receive us at the airport and escort us to the Railway station go wrong? When he gave us the ticket, I remember him telling us that the train would be at 12.05. To our bad luck, it was the arrival time at Brussels. Our tickets were booked by the French Ministry of External Affairs, which invited us to visit France and Brussels on a 10-day tour.

I looked at the ticket again. The fare for the First Class ticket was 99.99 euro (more than Rs 5,000). The thought of paying for a fresh ticket and the chances of getting reservation in the next train worried me.

I was already a bit depressed on my first transaction on landing in Paris. I had to pay six euro (about Rs 330) just as service charge on changing a $100-note (Rs 4,300) (which fetched me only 65 euro - Rs 3,400, though the currency had fallen sharply against the dollar after the French `No' to the European Constitution) at a money-changing counter at the station.

By then Biren was back. "It is our mistake. Why blame the driver? We should have checked the tickets," he said. We rushed to the reservation counter and stood in the queue. There were at least 10 passengers ahead of us waiting to be called to one of the four computerised counters. It seemed to me that the ticketing staff at Paris was no different from those back in India, considering the time they took for each passenger. No wonder, the French rejected the European Constitution, I thought and remembered the conversation we had on the subject in the flight from Mumbai to Paris.

"French people enjoy life. They are not too comfortable with the enlarged Europe with Polish plumbers taking over their toilets," said a fellow passenger. To some extent, I agreed. France has an unemployment rate of 10 per cent.

Though Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has announced major plans for creation of more jobs, the situation may not change over night. There is the fear that the enlarged Europe may dilute the comfort of the social security being enjoyed by the French people.

But they conveniently try to forget the fact that only a stronger Europe will eventually be able to compete with China or even India.

"It is a vote against President Jacques Chirac," said another passenger, adding that, "It reflects the divide between the political establishment and the electorate." A section of the people in Europe think that Chirac is an unsuccessful politician, though many outside Europe supported his stand on international issues.

"Take your bag, next is our turn," Biren's words brought me back to the railway station. I didn't realise that we were waiting in the queue for more than 15 minutes.

The smiling face of the French woman at the counter relieved me of my anxiety about the missed train. She took our tickets. No question was asked.

Within two minutes, fresh tickets were issued for the next train. No extra payment? "No, have a nice journey," said the woman in the typical French accent.

I could not believe my luck. The 100 euro (Rs 5,200) that I had kept for my son's gift remained safely tucked away in my wallet. My opinion of the French railway staff suddenly climbed a few notches.

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The French (rail) connection

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