© Firefighters – SDIS 35
In charge of transport in the Rennes area, the Star network has just withdrawn three gas buses from circulation following a fire that occurred this Wednesday, October 23.
According to information provided by the local press, the incident occurred this Wednesday, October 23 in the morning. In total, around twenty firefighters intervened at the Transdev depot, in charge of operating the Star network, to put out the fire in a bus running on natural gas.
Precautionary principle
In a press release, the operator indicated that a “smoke release” had already been observed on a model from the same manufacturer (MAN) on October 17. While the two vehicles were withdrawn from service to be assessed, a third from the same series was also withdrawn from circulation.
“We have to wait for the conclusions of the expertise, we do not yet know if the incidents are linked,” explained Edouard Petit, CFDT union representative at Kéolis, interviewed by France 3.In the past, we have also had fires start with thermal buses [roulant au diesel], it's still mechanics, we often discover failures” said a CGT representative.
Extremely rare incidents
Although the incident was widely reported by the press, fires in buses running on natural gas remain extremely rare compared to the approximately 7,000 CNG buses in circulation in France.
Above all, safety is perfectly established with thermal devices which allow the gas to be automatically released in the event of a fire, avoiding overpressure of the tanks and the risk of explosion.
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