On 12 July 2013, a train crash in the commune 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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

left seven people dead and 428 injured when a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

carrying 385 people derailed and hit the station platform. Until the Eckwersheim derailment 2 years later, which killed 11 people, the crash was the deadliest in France since the 1988 Gare de Lyon accident 25 years prior in which 56 people were killed.

Accident

At 17:11 CEST (15:11 UTC) on 12 July 2013,

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

Corail

Intercités Intercités (IC), known before September 2009 as ''Corail Intercités'', is a brand name used by France's national railway company, the SNCF, to denote non High-speed rail in France, high-speed services on the classic rail network in France. The ...

train 3657 from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

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. There were 385 passengers on the train, 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. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

holiday weekend. The train was not scheduled to stop and was travelling at at the time of the crash, well below the speed limit of . The last four carriages derailed on a double slip, and the train then separated between the fourth and fifth carriages. The rear of the train deviated to the left from Track 1 to Track 3 at the following turnout. With the fifth and seventh carriages following different tracks, the sixth carriage was dragged along the platform between them for a distance of around 100 metres, during which it was pierced by a beam supporting the roof. 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 and Interior Minister Manuel Valls described the incidents as "isolated acts" and said the throwing of missiles ceased when the police arrived.

Investigation

The

, French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (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 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.

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 was 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. An SNCF director said that the failure of a fishplate (rail joint) was the cause of the crash, confirmed in the third SNCF press conference by supporting photographs. According to Guillaume Pepy, 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

External links

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BEA-TT Interim report

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretigny-sur-Orge train crash 2013 disasters in France Essonne Transport in Île-de-France Railway accidents in 2013 Derailments in France July 2013 in France