Train driver's suicide causes Christmas travel delays across France

A train driver's suicide caused widespread delays on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day in France, with some 3,000 passengers affected during the busy holiday period.

Issued on: 25/12/2024 - 17:49

The suicide by a train driver on the job has caused widespread delays in France's rail traffic, operator SNCF said Wednesday.

Some 3,000 train passengers have been affected by delays in services between Paris and southeastern France that started Tuesday and spilled over into Wednesday.

Around 10 high-speed (TGV) trains were delayed by up to five hours Tuesday after the suicide on Christmas Eve, an exceptionally busy time for travel.

The prosecutors' office in Melun, southeast of Paris, told AFP that the driver appeared to have jumped to his death from the moving train.

His body was discovered later near the tracks.

Without a driver operating the controls, the train's automatic emergency procedure kicked in, causing the train to stop, the office said.

An investigation into the circumstances of the death was ongoing.

SNCF confirmed the driver's death, saying he "committed suicide while the train was moving".

There was no threat to the safety of passengers on the train, or to services elsewhere in the network, SNCF added.

Train traffic was "resuming progressively" Wednesday, SNCF said, warning however of some possible further delays.

Montpellier does have some previous for radical action to remove cars from the city centre, going back to the time of the long-serving and somewhat dictatorial mayor Georges Frêche.

As perhaps a lighter item after the gloomy posts about the resilience of Dawlish's lifts in bad weather and list of 36 scrapped/suspended rail projects - here's what SNCF propose for lightly used branch lines (perhaps an alternative for the Parry People Mover)-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SUAuxuDy1k

Earlier this year, Italian operator Trenitalia also proposed stricter regulations on luggage that would have limited passengers to two items per person

UK next, I wonder?

France has introduced new rules regarding luggage on trains with fines for travellers who don’t comply.

Limits on the number and size of suitcases will become obligatory on France’s high-speed services in mid September.

Earlier this year, Italian operator Trenitalia also proposed stricter regulations on luggage that would have limited passengers to two items per person.

However, the proposal was contested by consumer rights groups and was withdrawn. 

What are the new luggage rules on trains in France?
In February, French national operator SNCF announced new limits for the amount and size of luggage on high speed TGV InOui and Intercité trains. 

Passengers are now limited to two large pieces of baggage measuring a maximum of 70cm x 90cm x 50cm per person plus a smaller item like a backpack or laptop case with dimensions of up to 40cm x 30cm x 15cm.
Passengers are also allowed to carry a handbag or purse. Items including pushchairs and buggies, sports equipment and musical instruments do not count towards the luggage limit.

The new regulations came into force on 15 February but without fines for noncompliance. Starting from 15 September, passengers now face a €50 fine for exceeding the allowance.

What are the existing luggage limits on French trains?
Those travelling on the TGV budget OuiGo services are already subjected to baggage regulations.

Passengers holding a standard ticket are permitted one piece of luggage measuring up to 36cm x 27cm x 15cm and one piece no bigger than 55cm x 35cm x 25cm.

Passengers can pay an extra charge to bring additional items.

Local TER trains don’t impose a luggage limit but storage space can be limited and passengers must ensure baggage is stowed safely and does not become a hazard for other travellers.

Standard and Standard Premier ticket holders on the Eurostar travelling between London and Paris are permitted two items of baggage and one handbag.

There are no weight restrictions but passengers must be able to carry and lift their suitcases without requiring assistance.

... first applied to industrial workers of a Luddite tendency.

My little dictionnaire étymologique probably does know better; certainly it knows different. The verb saboter once meant something like to clog (in this sense) - to stamp, make a loud noise, or shake. But now it means roughly to bodge: to work shoddily or carelessly, damaging the work or machines. So sabotage (as the verbal noun) can only be done by the workers themselves, which probably was its main sense when first applied to industrial workers of a Luddite tendency.

Of course it may turn out that this has been done by very left-wing railway workers: there certainly are some - whole unionsful of them - in France.

I knew already, just a little tease. The term derives from the French sabot, a wooden clog worn by aggrieved workers, who implemented early forms of industrial action by messing things up. They didn't use the clogs to damage anything, as walking home with one bare foot was uncomfortable, but the name stuck. So I understand, others may know better.

Last night a proper suspect was arrested -according to AFP and their friends in the police. Mind you, quite why anyone would be daft enough to be driving around at that time of the morning with wire cutters, SNCF keys, and the kind of literature that gets you identified as a left-wing extremist is a puzzle.
 

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

Freedom fighter ? patriot ?

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

And many French families were travelling not to Paris but going on holiday elsewhere in France or further afield, and the quoted figure for disrupted journeys would reasonably include those not DIRECTLY affected but suffering from overcrowding

A lot of news oulets are reporting Russian links to this, with some naming a Russian with alleged FSB ties who has been arrested by the French. Someone (and I’ll have to be careful here) told me much earlier in the day that this was the Russians and authorities were concerned that this was only the start of things.

Do the media get told to exaggerate the situation?

Okay, 15 London to Paris journeys each set has maximum 750 passengers,

 equates to 11,250 carried each day add Paris to London means 22,500 passengers each day.

Where do they get 800,000  travelers will have their travel plans disrupted?

A TGV linking Paris to Nantes on Thursday had to be stopped at Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe) in the evening, because of a 'strong smell'. The firefighters were mobilized and the 1,200 passengers were evacuated.

The 1,200 travellers on a Paris-Nantes Ouigo train were evacuated on Thursday evening at Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe), due to a "strong and irritating" odour from the toilet, AFP has learned from SNCF and the prefecture.

Sounds an interesting idea, my main misgiving is the large number of stops proposed, 29 on one route !

I can see the merit of stops in order to enjoy attractions en-route, purchase food and drink ...

29 stops sounds very tedious though. Perhaps fewer might be better ?

Slow but sure. New services on France's underutilized railway lines.

Railcoop on brink of liquidation as financing gap stymies restructuring hope

By Railway Gazette International17 April 2024

FRANCE: Open access co-operative Railcoop is expected to be formally liquidated on April 29, the company President Nicolas Debaisieux has confirmed.

The collapse of the co-operative comes after it was placed into judicial administration on October 16 for a period of up to six months. With this period now expiring, a hearing was held at the administrative court in Cahors on April 15 to begin arranging the formalities for creditors, two weeks ahead of the formal liquidation.

While this would bring to an end the idea of using a co-operative model to launch open access trains such as Railcoop’s planned Lyon – Bordeaux service, Debaisieux believes that the project could still be salvaged through outside investment. Railcoop had been planning to restructure itself into an operating business and an asset management ‘opco’.

The co-operative has been negotiating with investment fund Serena Partners and a rolling stock leasing company with a view to progressing the proposed restructuring. According to Debaisieux, these investors had secured 60% of the €11m required to establish the planned Lyon – Limoges - Bordeaux open access service, but this still left a €3·5m gap in the business plan...

Two SNCF employees, including the train’s driver, and one Systra employee will also be on trial, facing maximum sentences of three years in prison and fines of up to €45,000 each.

As expected, Systra has been mis en examen (roughly charged) and SNCF is expected to follow in a few days. That allows for formal questioning, though how cautioning works with a company I'm not sure.

Trial of deadly 2015 high speed train crash opens in Paris

The French national rail operator, SNCF, along with two of its subsidiaries and three rail workers are due to appear at the Paris criminal court at the start of a two month trial for their role in the accident involving a high speed TGV train on a test run in 2014 that left 11 people dead and 42 injured.

Issued on: 04/03/2024 - 11:53

The SNCF and its subsidiaries Systra and SNCF Réseau are on trial for “injury and involuntary homicide” for the 14 November 2015 accident that killed 11 of the 53 people on board the train and injured everyone else.

The defendants are facing 88 civil parties, including survivors who were not employees, but were on board the train anyway.

The crash occurred near Strasbourg, in eastern France, on what was supposed to be the final test run of the new high-speed line connecting the city with Paris.

The train struck a bridge and derailed, breaking in two as it landed in the Marne-Rhine canal.

Systra, the company responsible for railway tests, is being prosecuted for its decision to try a test speed of 330 kilometres – the train’s upper limit - rather than the 187 kilometre per hour operating speed.

A 2017 investigation that lead to the charges against the defendants concluded the train’s drivers had not received the necessary training to carry out such high-speed tests.
Non-employees on board

The three companies are accused of failing to take precautions to prevent “inappropriate actions of the driving team in terms of braking”.

On board the train were employees as well as their guests, including four children, and one of the questions in the trial is why non-employees were on board.

SNCF and Systra, as the test operators, and the project owner, SNCF Réseau, face fines of up to €225,000 if found guilty in the trial that runs through 16 May.

Two SNCF employees, including the train’s driver, and one Systra employee will also be on trial, facing maximum sentences of three years in prison and fines of up to €45,000 each.

During the investigation, the lawyers for all the defendants suggested that they would be pleading for acquittal.

Montpellier is getting ready to launch its free public transport scheme ahead of Christmas.

Montpellier in southern France is getting ready to introduce free public transport on 21 December.

It will become the largest French metropolis to boast such a scheme.

From next month, local residents will be able to utilise a free transport pass across the city’s bus and tram network. The scheme aims to slash emissions, reduce pollution and improve accessibility for the city’s residents.

“By introducing free transport, we are bold in taking a great measure of social justice, of progress, which works for the ecological transition,” tweeted the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse when the scheme was announced earlier this year.

Montpellier has been experimenting with free transport on weekends since September 2020. In 2021, it extended this to weekdays for under-18s and over-65s.

The further extension of the scheme is part of the city’s €150 million push for zero carbon mobility, which also includes investment in cycle lanes and the creation of a low emissions zone.
Where else has free transport in France?

Montpellier is far from being a trailblazer. In fact, French towns and cities have been rolling out such schemes since the country’s transport management was decentralised in 2015.

However the majority of these have less than 150,000 inhabitants.

With almost 200,000 inhabitants, Dunkirk is the largest city to have embraced free transport so far. After it introduced fare-free bus routes in 2018, passenger numbers increased by an average of 85 per cent.

Ah, Saint-Denis près Martel. Looks like that's now the lower end of the preserved railway the 'Chemin-de-fer touristique du Haute Quercy', which may still offer, as well as travel over an ambitious piece of railway engineering, the experience of being in an open sided carriage behind a small steam loco doing its best in a curved single track tunnel on a steep climb, the loco exhaust somehow being very well behaved and confining itself to the roof of the tunnel. Mostly.

Yes, a bit rustic, isn't it? Of course the minimalist railway line still leads to a proper-sized station in Aurillac.

And the train fits that rustic image - three carriages tacked on the end of the existing night train to Rodez (and Albi on Fridays), where it stays for five hours before its final trundle up to Aurillac. It calls at the major metropolises of Laroquebrou, Bretenoux-Biars and Saint-Denis près Martel.

Now wondering if a: accompanied bikes would be ok and b: if they are, whether there'd be the same shenanigans imposed as at Edinburgh, where passengers with cycles, when the train is divided, are required to be up and about to transfer them between portions.

Mark

*Finds the route* OK, the Aurillac train will use infrastructure such as this. (The overbridge at the tunnel portal is the same road that crosses the line, hairpin-bend-climbing the valley side...)

Joining still done at Plymouth.

Indeed. Until recently they used St Andrews Crosses rather than signal lights. And the trains don't even necessarily need to be going in opposite directions; I've been stuck on a northbound train on an even-numbered platform (i.e. at the country end) waiting for another northbound train on the odd-numbered end of the same platform to leave to clear our path.

I have noticed that trains on even-numbered platforms seem to stop a long way short of the 'join', sometimes beyond the canopy, which can be irksome!

Well, of course. French railways have always been, obviously enough, built for .... Parisians.

From The Independent

Why is it so difficult to change trains in Paris to reach the south of France?

Rail travel to the south of France should be the norm. But a significant impediment to luring airline passengers is that most journeys from the UK to the French Mediterranean coast require a change of trains – and stations – in Paris.

Eurostar from London arrives at the Gare du Nord. High-speed TGVs for the south leave from the equally magnificent Gare de Lyon.

France plans to invest 100 billion euros in rail infrastructure by 2040

PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - France plans to invest 100 billion euros in rail transport by 2040 as part of a government push to reduce the country’s carbon footprint, the government said on Friday.

The plan, aimed at expanding and upgrading the rail network, includes launching express commuter trains similar to the Paris RER system in major cities, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said.

The announcement seeks to tackle perceived inequalities between Paris and other parts of the country when it comes to public infrastructure, exacerbated by soaring energy costs that have made transport expensive for millions of commuters.

France would make the planned investments together with national rail operator SNCF, the European Union and local governments, she [Elisabeth Borne] said.

The refund/rebooking plus "exceptional" 200% compensation applies to SNCF-marketed services: TGV(INOUI/OUIGO) and Intercités, which are all reserved places. For TERs they refer you to the relevant region. But that 200% whether you travel or not, for which e-mails are already going out, is obviously a big safety net, like the guarantees offered during Covid-time, to encourage customers to trust the proven untrustworthy.

I am not sure whether to be worried, or reassured by that statement - an OFF-DUTY policeman carrying a gun!

I am not sure whether to be worried, or reassured by that statement - an OFF-DUTY policeman carrying a gun!

https://news.sky.com/story/paris-attack-man-neutralised-by-police-after-several-injured-at-gare-du-nord-12784080

Within a minute, off-duty police officers returning home from a night shift shot the attacker three times.

Think of the inflation that would stoke, as people rush to invest in First Class Anytime Returns, confident of rapidly doubling their money!