Tuesday, December 24, the driver of a TGV committed suicide on the South-East line while his train was traveling at full speed. Thanks to its VACMA safety device, the machine was able to stop itself and avoid a catastrophe.
An evening of horror and a catastrophe averted. This Tuesday, December 24, around 8 p.m., a TGV suddenly stopped in the south of Seine-et-Marne, blocking the South-East high-speed line for hours and forcing thousands of passengers to review their plans for on Christmas Eve. While the SNCF initially announced that the incident was linked to “a personal accident”she finally explained this Wednesday, December 25 that it was the suicide of a driver, at the controls of a moving train, which had paralyzed traffic. But then how, without a driver, was the machine able to stop and avoid a disaster scenario of a train running at full speed that never stops, with hundreds of people on board?
The SNCF, which insisted on this «terrible drame» which plunges into the “grief” the whole railway family this Christmas Day, explains that it is these safety systems which made it possible to avoid a tragedy. According to a spokesperson, it is “from memory” the first time such an incident has occurred. As soon as the driver has “abandoned his driving position, the train's automatic stopping devices were activated and the train stopped”she clarified. “The safety of train passengers was not threatened at any time, nor was the safety of traffic, the traffic management center having been immediately automatically alerted”the railway company said again.
Pressing a pedal and sound alert
The railway company explains that it was thanks to the “Automatic Standby with Support Maintenance Control (VACMA)” safety device that the disaster was avoided. He “allows you to confirm the active presence of the driver at all times” in the train driver's cabin. The driver must therefore “alternatively press then release either a pedal with your foot or a switch with your hand”details the SNCF. “If he doesn't release the pressure every 30 seconds or if he doesn't press the mechanism again after five seconds, a very loud alarm goes off in the driver's cab to make him react. He has three seconds to do it.
And if he doesn't, “the train motors automatically cut off their traction effort and the automatic emergency braking device is triggered at the same time”specifies the company. “In the case of yesterday’s tragedy (Tuesday evening, editor’s note), this security system worked as expected”she emphasizes.
The stop on the tracks of the train driven by the railway worker found deceased blocked the TGVs in both directions on this axis. The trains had to be diverted and took another route, which caused longer travel times, according to SNCF explanations. Tuesday evening, the delays noted, the delays had increased by three to five hours for at least three trains: the TGV Inoui Brussels-Lyon n° 9844, the Ouigo Paris-Lyon n° 7805 and the TGV Inoui Montpellier-Paris n° 6206. These trains were departing or arriving from Gare de Lyon.
The event led to the launch of the Pégase plan (Plan against congestion at stations in exceptional situations), intended to absorb the massive arrival of travelers at stations while most public transport is no longer in service. The device was lifted at 3 a.m., according to a source close to the investigation.
