The derailment of the Paris-Limoges Intercités train at Brétigny-sur-Orge station on July 12, 2013 (AFP/Archives/-)
“I had the impression of a bombardment in Brétigny”: questioned Thursday by the court on the first findings after the derailment, a former local SNCF official recalled an “impressive” scene, similar to a “bombing raid”.
On Friday July 12, 2013, the disassembly and reversal of a steel fishplate – a sort of large staple that joins two rails together – derailed an Intercités train, which was traveling at 137km/h for an authorized speed of 150km/h. Seven people were killed and 400 others injured.
As of Friday evening, this “lane expertise center” manager made the first observations and wrote an initial report with three other colleagues, then sent to their superiors.
Arrived at 8:15 p.m. on the scene, he discovered an “impressive” scene: “I had the impression of a bombardment in Brétigny”, he indicated before the court which was interested Thursday afternoon in the first observations of the scene of the drama. “An impressive scene, everything was ripped off,” he added.
Trial of the Brétigny rail disaster in 2013 (AFP / Sylvie HUSSON)
From that evening, he evokes the probable scenario of the jamming of the splint: “the derailment was caused in an almost certain way by the rise of the axles which stumbled on a splint stuck in the heart of the track”, according to this report displayed to the audience.
According to his initial observations, the locomotive and the first three cars of the train did not derail “because the joint bar moved after” their passage.
“I have never seen a side reversal in my 38-year career,” said Thursday this former local manager, “track expert” at the time.
For the experts appointed by the justice, the train derailed because of a disassembly of the splint, linked to a rupture of bolts “by fatigue”.
On the four bolts of the splint, this man claims to have seen on the evening of July 13 “the third bolt missing, with an oxidized hole”. “The first and second bolts were found with no apparent signs of impact near the joint,” he says in this report.
The derailment of the Paris-Limoges Intercités train at Brétigny-sur-Orge station on July 12, 2013 (AFP/Archives/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
According to him, the splint was therefore held that day by the fourth bolt only.
A second witness will be heard on Friday on these findings.
Until June 17, the criminal court of Evry must establish the responsibilities of the national company SNCF, SNCF Réseau and a framework in this derailment.
© 2022 AFP
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