The SNCF faces new criticism. In a video published on LinkedIn on Friday April 19, 2024, Charlotte de Vilmorin, a young woman with reduced mobility who uses a wheelchair, appeared completely stuck in a train of an SNCF train. She told the person who was filming her that a “another gentleman in an armchair” who was traveling alongside her had been supported by the assistance provided by the railway company for people with reduced mobility, but not her. “She said : ‘sorry, I can’t take care of you’, and she left”lamented the traveler stuck between the steps of the train, without specifying the station in which it was blocked. It is at the moment when “an announcement over the loudspeakers started saying that the train was going to the garage” that Charlotte de Vilmorin started to panic. Little did she know that her journey had only just begun.
“The gold medal for losing”
Determined that her trip does not end at the SNCF vehicle garage, the traveler with reduced mobility “tried to press every possible SOS button”, in addition to contacting the emergency numbers available on the railway company’s website. In vain. After several minutes of waiting, “a security guy arrived”, listed Charlotte de Vilmorin. But to question her about why she had pressed one of the vehicle’s alarm buttons. “We get confused because we pressed the red button but no one gets me out of the train”denounced the young woman in the video published on the professional social network. Finally someone came “30 minutes” after the arrival of the train at the station, alerted by the person responsible for picking up the passenger by car… “Frankly, don’t change anything. We are on track for the gold medal for losing for the 2024 JOPs”, commented the young woman against the SNCF, which was the victim of her disability despite herself. It is not always enough to follow the procedures to the letter to obtain correct support, according to the misadventure of Charlotte de Vilmorin.