Why French Railway Stations Delayed Their Clocks (& What Happened When They Did)

The Tim Traveller July 25, 2025
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Travel videos for nerds.

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In 1887, the French railways unilaterally decided to move every clock in every railway station 5 minutes behind Paris time. Meanwhile, the clocks outside the stations remained untouched. So why on earth (or at least, in France) would you do that? INSTA - https://www.instagram.com/the.tim.traveller TWIT - https://twitter.com/TheTimTraveller FACE - https://www.facebook.com/TheTimTraveller/ MORE INFO "The history of railways and standard time" by Lucien Baillaud (in French) -https://journals.openedition.org/rhcf/416 Atelier 231, the old railyard in Sotteville (in French) - https://www.atelier231.fr/Le-Lieu-5.html IMAGE CREDITS Besançon, rue de la Convention by Wikipedro - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besan%C3%A7on#/media/File:Besan%C3%A7on,_la_rue_de_la_Convention.jpg Pile of brown envelopes by Lynn Greyling - https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=90324