On 12 July 2013, a

train crash A train wreck, train collision, train accident or train crash is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an acci ...

occurred in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of Brétigny-sur-Orge in the southern suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, when a passenger train carrying 385 people derailed and hit the station platform. Seven people were killed and there were 428 injuries. The accident was cited as the most serious rail crash in France since the 1988 Gare de Lyon accident in which 56 people were killed.

Accident

At 17:11

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

(15:11 UTC) on 12 July 2013, SNCF Corail

Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

train 3657 from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to Limoges derailed and crashed at Brétigny station, resulting in the deaths of seven people (three passengers on the train and four on the platform) and injuries to "dozens" more. 385 passengers were on board, and the crash occurred a few minutes after the train departed Austerlitz at 16:53. It was scheduled to arrive at Limoges-Bénédictins at 20:05. The trains and platforms at Brétigny were particularly busy as it was rush hour and the Friday before the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

holiday weekend. Reports indicate the train, which was not scheduled to stop, crashed at (below the speed limit of 150 km/h). The last four carriages derailed on a double slip, and the train then broke in two between its fourth and fifth carriages. The rear of the train deviated to the left from Track 1 to Track 3 at the following railroad switch. With the fifth and seventh carriages following different tracks, the sixth carriage swept the platform between them for a distance of around 100metres. It was pierced by a roof beam. The fifth carriage first hit the platform on its left and then came to rest along the opposite platform.

Response

Railway workers immediately took action, preventing, by a few seconds, a collision between the derailed carriages and another approaching from the opposite direction.“”, '
According to a police report, some thefts from passengers and throwing of projectiles at rescue workers occurred shortly after the accident. The Minister of Transport

Frédéric Cuvillier Frédéric Cuvillier (born at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 9 December 1968) is a French politician who, until his appointment as Junior Minister for Transport and the Maritime Economy at the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and H ...

and Interior Minister

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...

described the incidents as "isolated acts" and said the throwing of missiles ceased when the police arrived.

Investigation

The SNCF,

French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau The French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (', abbreviated BEA-TT) is an agency of the French government formed in 2004 and charged with the investigation into accidents involving all forms of land transport, including railways, urban ...

(BEA-TT), and judicial authorities started three separate investigations into the accident. The SNCF released its initial findings on 13 July 2013, reporting that the derailment appeared to have been caused by a track failure. A steel

fishplate A fishplate joins two lengths of track A fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal connecting plate used to bolt the ends of two rails into a continuous track. The name is derived from ''fish'', a wooden reinforcement of a "built-up" ship's ...

connecting two rails came loose from the station at a set of switches, and became stuck in them. The last axle of the third carriage is thought to be the first to have hit the fishplate. In January 2019, an SNCF manager who had been supervising track inspections at Brétigny before the crash was charged with homicide.https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/chateauroux/accident-de-bretigny-sur-orge-un-cadre-de-la-sncf-mis-en-examen

Causes

Three investigations were initiated, by the Évry public prosecutor, the Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA-TT) of the Ministry of Transport, and the SNCF. The train is believed to have derailed on the approach to Brétigny when passing over a switch before the station. The French transport minister Frédéric Cuvillier stated that the accident was not due to human error and ruled out any responsibility on the part of the driver. At a press conference the day after the accident, an SNCF director stated that the failure of a

(rail joint) was the cause of the accident, confirmed in the third SNCF press conference by supporting photographs. According to

Guillaume Pepy Guillaume Pepy (born 26 May 1958) is a high-ranking French civil servant who currently serves as president of the SNCF, the French national rail authority. He is also Chairman of Eurostar and Deputy-Chairman of the Keolis Group. President Nicolas ...

, the SNCF president, the fishplate broke away from the rails and became lodged in the middle of the switch, causing the derailment. Pepy said the SNCF considered itself responsible for the lives of its passengers and announced a campaign to check all similar equipment, nearly 5,000 units throughout the network, whose maintenance is within the SNCF's remit.

Gallery

File:Gare-de-Brétigny-sur-Orge - 2013-07-13 A - IMG 8921.jpg, Locomotive BB 26005 in front of train 3657. File:Gare-de-Brétigny-sur-Orge - 2013-07-13 A - IMG 9834.jpg, Carriages 3 and 4. File:Gare-de-Brétigny-sur-Orge - 2013-07-13 A - IMG 9910.jpg, Carriage 4 lying on its side. File:Gare-de-Brétigny-sur-Orge - 2013-07-13 A - IMG 9817.jpg, Locomotive and four first carriages of train 3657. File:Gare-de-Brétigny-sur-Orge - 2013-07-13 C - IMG 9787.jpg, Train 3657 on the left. In the opposite direction, another train stopped just in time.

References