Several dozen French rail passengers were ousted from two first-class carriages early this month to make way for the wife of Saudi King Abdullah and her 80-member delegation, the rail operator SNCF said.
The travellers - already settled in the high-speed TGV train - were told their seats had been booked by the Saudi royals, just before they pulled out of Bourg Saint Maurice in the French Alps. Despite complaints, the passengers, who included two pregnant women, were moved to a carriage at the far end of the train, the Canard Enchaine satirical newspaper reported on Wednesday. The train later made an unscheduled stop in the south-eastern town of Chambery to allow the royal delegation to come on board, it said.
An SNCF spokesman told AFP it was standard procedure to upset passenger seating arrangements to make way for bulk reservations. "We did it for the Saudi royal family, but we would have done the same for a corporate booking," he said.