France - railways, public transport, services and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[stuving]

Well, it missed the peak off-to-holiday traffic, but it still happened. A two-hour loss of power outside Bordeaux-St-Jean, stopping all trains in and out. One train was within walking distance along the track, as a lot of the passengers confirmed, though there were 15 TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) stopped in all. However, I suspect most of those still had power, just nowhere to go. The reason was a bit odd: some issue on the pantograph of a train in the depot led to the power locally being switched off. I have no information as to why it was off for so long over all the running lines.

Meanwhile... (actually last Thursday) 30 km away at Libourne, the press thought they'd found a juicy little story: a driver had hit his limit of hours and abandoned his goods train in the station - and it was carrying armoured vehicles for the Bastille Day parade which needed to be guarded at all times! More than that, it was operated by a private company, which is a new idea in France. But later on SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) sheepishly admitted it was theirs, but claimed the line was OK to use as a goods loop, and the train arrived by the promised time even if it took four hours to get another driver there.

I guess Frét SNCF now have to apply to SNCF Réseau for one-off paths in the same way as other operators. Incidentally, on Frét SCNF's landing page it says:

24/7 tracking
Our sales teams are ready to help you meet your challenges, both locally and internationally. We’re present throughout France, and our offices are open 24/7, so we can track your shipments in real time.

[stuving]

There are reports of a serious accident at a level crossing this morning, involving a car and leading to the deaths of a woman and three children. The car is reported as being stationary on the level crossing by the station at Avenay-Val-d'Or, when it was struck by a TER from Epernay to Reims (which would not stop at Evenay). The crossing was not regarded as being particularly dangerous.

[stuving]

I'm not sure it makes sense to talk about this now looking worse, but it certainly doesn't get any better. The four victims are now described as a woman of 37, her daughter of 11, and two infants (3 and 1) from other families (she was a nursery assistant or child miner in some sense).

The crossing is an AHBC^▸ (Automatic Half Barrier Crossing), and the entry barrier for this car (from Avenay) was folded back through more than 90 degrees, supporting the assumption that the car drove through it when it was down. SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) and the local mayor say it no history of failing to work, but the prosecutor has referred to a witness who saw a barrier descend without warning yesterday. He did not say whether that had been reported to SNCF (there are two direct telephones at the crossing).

This, from the Independent, does at least show the right crossing (registration needed, I think).

[Worcester_Passenger]

I see from https://www.sncf.com/en/booking-itinerary/traffic-info/gl that SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) hope to restore the through TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) services to Italy via Modane gradually from July 23 onwards.

[stuving]

Another near miss at a level crossing, this time at Saint-Eulalie on the northern edge of Bordeaux (No 508). Yesterday at about 8:15/8:30, a TransGironde service 301 bus from Libourne to Lormont, carrying about 10 teenagers to school, was caught in traffic, still on a crossing, when the barriers closed. The driver moved forward as far as he could, pushing one car as he did so, while the passengers rushed to the front (he refused to open the doors). The train missed the back of the bus by centimetres - but reports differ as to whether it stopped short or shot past (on the other track it could not have passed).

What led to this was traffic queuing back from the traffic lights on the main road (Avenue de l'Aquitaine), 110 m from the crossing. The driver admitted that he misjudged the space for his bus (or, I suspect, how far the cars in front would keep moving). Obviously everyone is being pretty rude about the bus driver, who has been suspended from work. The local maire was also talking about the urgent need to close this LC^▸ (Level Crossing) (PN), and it turns out it's on SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways)'s little list (with 509, on a lane leading to the gare de Sainte-Eulalie - Carbon-Blanc). I can see two trains that might have been involved - 8:21 not stopping or 8:48 stopping at Sainte-Eulalie - Carbon-Blanc. Presumably the stopping train would have slowed enough to make its braking in time more likely. The first train is listed as arriving on time; the second 5 minutes late. (But note that the information in bulletins de retard does not seem to be at all reliable.)

That leads to the question about what the response should be to a near miss, but a very serious one - and of a sensitive kind in France. The bus driver exchanged details with the driver he'd shunted, and drove on - later calling base to say he'd had an accident, but not mentioning trains! That must have made his later interview with his boss even frostier. I've not seen any news yet about the SNCF response at the time, though they would have gone out to examine and test the crossing as a matter of course. But did the train really proceed to Bordeaux almost immediately?

[stuving]

The line through Millas reopened today - well over two years on from the accident. Most of that time it was a court's decision (which closed the road as well), lifted last October, followed by works to the crossing (inevitably extended by YKW). Further up, part of the line is closed due to storm (Gloria) damage, and buses will fill in until that is fixed.

The rework hasn't touched one of the key factors specific to this crossing: the side road, very close to the track, that the bus came out of. If you remember, it was only just possible to turn the bus in the space, which left very little time with a clear straight-ahead view of the barrier and lights before reaching them. 

Feelings are, not surprisingly, still rather raw, notably among the parents of children who still make that trip by bus every day. The train times have been changed, and some kind of warning to the school of late running provided, so as to avoid a train and a bus being close to coinciding at the crossing. But it probably didn't help anyone's nerves that only a few days ago the barriers failed to rise after a train had passed. Failed safe, but still ...

[stuving]

Le Parisen reported this morning that one of the three SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) (then RFF) employees implicated in the case, and previously "witnesses under caution", has been mis en examen - charged with a criminal offence, roughly. The prosecutors' office at Evry has confirmed only that step about an unnamed SNCF employee.

The newspaper report says more, that it was the local track maintenance manager (the other two being his direct reports). He did the last inspection before the accident, and the independent engineering reports said (based largely on the state of the fracture surfaces) that the relevant trackwork damage was present at that time.

It was announced today by the prosecutors that the case (for manslaughter, more or less) against both SCNF and the individual already charged will go to court next year.

[stuving]

From International Rail Journal:

Currently passengers travelling between the two cities – which are separated by 556km by road – require a change in Paris. This journey takes 5h 26min on the fastest TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) connection, with a 1h 19min connection in Paris.

The company is planning to offer three trains per day via Libourne, Périgueux, Limoges, Guéret, Montluçon, Saint-Germain-des-Fossés and Roanne and is proposing a 6h 47 min journey time.

While considerably longer than the 5h 30min car journey and the equivalent trip by TGV, Railcoop hopes that time will be offset by onboard services and greater comfort. The trains are set to feature a children’s play area, catering and storage for luggage, skis and surfboards.

The lowest priced ticket for the journey will be set at €38 and pre-Covid-19 projections were for 690,000 passengers per year to use the service. A study by Systra confirmed the strong potential for the route and Railcoop hopes to attract motorists and benefit from the curtailing of domestic air travel in France.

Founded in November 2019 as France’s first cooperative society of collective interest for railways (SCIC), Railcoop says it has confirmed its intentions to France’s Regulatory Transport Authority (ART) on June 9, which will investigate whether the planned service conflicts with an existing public service. A decision of whether to grant the operator the necessary train paths will be confirmed by September 2021.

The company is also targeting the introduction of freight trains from the second half of 2021 and hosted a meeting of around 30 companies in February interested in pursuing alternative logistics.

A sticking point for the operator might be the €1.5m share capital, the minimum threshold for obtaining a railway operating license. The cooperative must recruit 3000 members and to date, according to Capital, has raised 10% of the sum from 360 members.

France is set to open its rail market to competition for the first time from December 2021. The Ministry of Transport published a tender in January for the operation of Intercities services between Nantes and Bordeaux and Nantes and Lyon on the Balance of Territory (TET) inter-city network, currently operated by SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) Mobility from the beginning of 2022, a move that was welcomed by Transdev.

However, another potential operator to compete with SNCF, FlixMobility, confirmed its intention to postpone plans to enter the French market in April due to high access charges in the country.

There's more detail on their plans on their web site; the latest move being a formal application - the first step in a long process. Whether their date of end-2022 is feasible is open to question; obviously getting the trains will be a key factor. They are talking about leasing six Alstom Regiolis/Coradia liner (like the new Intercités ones), but reducing the maintenance cost by being a smaller more flexible organisation that SNCF.

[eightonedee]

I can think of a few Alstom Coradias that might be going cheap soon......

[Jamsdad]

Very interesting development. The Non-TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) Intercities have become the Cinderella of the French rail network and this could be the lifeline they need.

[TonyK]

It was announced today by the prosecutors that the case (for manslaighter, more or less) against both SCNF and the individual already charged will go to court next year.

I know it's a complex matter, but eight years is a long, long time to have the sword of Damocles over your head.

[GBM]

Our UK^▸ (United Kingdom) system doesn't take that long to bring cases forward do they?
It seems the French system drags on far longer than ours, so are their systems more effective than ours; which could mean we convict when perhaps we should take longer to investigate?

[TonyK]

Our UK^▸ (United Kingdom) system doesn't take that long to bring cases forward do they?
It seems the French system drags on far longer than ours, so are their systems more effective than ours; which could mean we convict when perhaps we should take longer to investigate?

I can remember a time when the UK system, or at least England and Wales, did drag on and on. I think it was back in the 1980s that a series of legal reforms were introduced to speed things up without detriment to the accused, mostly by making more things triable in Magistrates' Courts rather than Crown, and tidying up the administration. There are many more paid judges in the lower court these days, which helps. Cases are sent to Crown Court at an earlier stage, with progress directed by the judge rather than by magistrates. All that, of course, can only happen once the investigation has been completed and a prima facie case established for someone to answer. I struggle to think of any aspect of this that could have taken 7 years to establish.

[stuving]

Our UK^▸ (United Kingdom) system doesn't take that long to bring cases forward do they?
It seems the French system drags on far longer than ours, so are their systems more effective than ours; which could mean we convict when perhaps we should take longer to investigate?

Remember that this is a high-profile corporate liability case, and against a nationalised industry too. In France individuals are commonly cited in these, and they do drag on for reasons that are hard to see - commissioning lots of expert reports into expert reports is part of that, I think. I don't think France is particularly bad in this respect, but maybe it is in the length of time it takes for the appeals processes to (almost always) eventually overturn personal convictions.

In this country such cases have generally not happened, and guilty verdicts have been rare - and I'm not sure how much that has changed, though police investigations are now usual. Even with a big press campaign to get a case started, and another to get a prosecution, liability for manslaughter could not be proved against an organisation without finding a "single controlling mind". So corporate manslaughter was invented*, but proving “senior management failure” has been so hard that convictions are still rare. And of course individuals are in effect still excluded.

*The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

[TonyK]

Remember that this is a high-profile corporate liability case, and against a nationalised industry too. In France individuals are commonly cited in these, and they do drag on for reasons that are hard to see - commissioning lots of expert reports into expert reports is part of that, I think. I don't think France is particularly bad in this respect, but maybe it is in the length of time it takes for the appeals processes to (almost always) eventually overturn personal convictions.

I appreciate all that, and agree with your thoughts. Corporate manslaughter here would not preclude the prosecution of an individual if they were to perform a criminal act or omission, but yes, companies have to be brought to book if they do wrong in telling employees what to do or how to do it.

The expert reports will have been commissioned by both sides, or course, with the winner being the one with the more expensive experts as a general rule of thumb. The court in England and Wales, and the investigator in France, will work through these with both sides, holding in effect trials of the evidence and looking for the areas where both sides agree, so that the eventual trial will focus only on what remains in dispute, what actually happened, and why it happened. That takes time, and lots of arguments, but leaving it to rumble on for so long runs the risk of people growing old, infirm or dying, with the possibility of a whole new set of arguments about whose memory of the events is the most accurate. Justice may prevail, but it might look a little pale by the time it is done.