>>1284136I think I can explain for this one.
It was shortly after WW2, and a lot of small railways lines were not in a good shape, with a lot of competition from road transport.
A labor union with another one, asked the French National Railways if they could design a railcar.
The objective was to have something with an operating cost inferior to the one of a bus, so it would delay or avoird closing some railway lines.
The driving cab is elevated because it's next to the gearbox and engine, hence avoidoing coslty commands for the clutch or shifting and allowing to drive in both way.
