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Why do French trains drive on the left? |
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
Most railways in the world normally do what the roads do –
but not in France.
The reason has nothing to do with the Revolution, but
with the prosaic fact that the first railways in France were
built by a British engineer, Thomas Brassey. Indeed Brassey
even imported British engine drivers.
But in Alsace and Moselle, the trains drive on the right
because the region was annexed by Germany in 1870, and
only returned to France at the end of World War I. German
engineers simply followed the practice on the roads, keeping
right, and made Alsace and Lorraine follow suit.
Consequently the pre-1919 border between France and
Germany is marked by railway flyovers (sauts-de-mouton –
sheep’s leaps).
Thanks to Mark Hamer for clearing that one up.
By the way Alsace and Moselle also keep to the pre-1919
practice whereby the State pays for the Roman Catholic and
Protestant clergy and for Rabbis as well. The practice goes
back to the Concordat en Alsace-Moselle signed by
Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801. And the Bishop of Metz and
Strasbourg is appointed by the President of France – a bit like
in England.
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