Around 3,000 travelers were affected by a personal accident on Christmas Eve; the Seine-et-Marne public prosecutor's office revealed that it was the suicide of a driver while the TGV was in motion.
“The first findings seem to lead us to think of an act of suicide by the driver of a TGV train”, indicated Wednesday December 25, 2024 the public prosecutor of Melun (Seine-et-Marne), the day after significant disruptions on the South line -Is New Year's Eve. “Automatic railway safety procedures ensured the train stopped,” added the prosecution.
According to a source close to the investigation, the driver of a train jumped off early Tuesday evening. His lifeless body was discovered a little later. The SNCF for its part “did not (confirm)” this information on Wednesday morning, specifying that “the SNCF investigation (was) not finished”. The SNCF announced on its website on Wednesday the “gradual resumption of traffic following a personal accident south of Paris”. “Some delays are still to be expected,” she warned.
They spent New Year's Eve on the train
Tuesday December 24, Christmas Eve evening, around ten TGVs were delayed, affecting more than 3,000 travelers. Some trains were up to 5 hours late, but none were canceled, SNCF said.
Users interviewed by BFMTV explained that they had been stuck for six hours in a stationary Lyon-Paris TGV, while they were expected to spend Christmas with their family. At Lyon station (Paris), around 1 a.m., users were exhausted. “We were allowed a small bottle of water,” quips a woman. “We are tired, we have a 10-year-old who is exasperated, who was hoping to see his cousins for New Year’s Eve… It’s ruined,” shared another mother.
According to BFMTV, the SNCF promised to reimburse 100% of users whose trains were more than three hours late, as well as all passengers on the train whose driver killed himself.
