why did the travelers struggle for seven hours last night?

A dark day on the roads and in public transport in Toulouse this Thursday January 9, 2025. After several metro stops on line B on Monday January 6 and Wednesday January 8, this time it was, on line A that traffic was heavily disrupted during the afternoon, around 4 p.m. A disturbance which was not resolved until shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday evening. Enough to cause irritation, but also questions.

Extended travel times

Brawls on the buses, exasperated users… The tension was palpable among the travelers of the Pink City, forced to adapt their journey, with much longer travel times.

Among the many impacted, there was Julie*. Having left Balma to reach Blagnac, the Toulouse woman took around 2h20 last night to return home, “instead of barely an hour in normal times”, she testifies to Toulouse News.

The cause of the disturbance

So, what was this stoppage of line A due to? In the middle of the afternoon, users were informed by a notification sent by Tisséo. The public transport operator of the Pink City mentions “abusive use of an escape handle« .

An explanation that was not satisfactory enough for several travelers: “this is not a justification for blocking the metro for the entire evening,” reacted one of them. “But how come this could last more than an hour? », asks another.

A security protocol that “takes time”

“Evacuation handles pulled improperly = metro stopped. » Via his social networks, Tisséo reminded that activating this emergency system is, in fact, nothing trivial. Because the operator is obliged to implement a security protocol which can cause traffic to stop for at least 30 minutes.

“When this handle is activated, it triggers the automatic opening of the train doors. Potentially, travelers can descend on the track. And before restarting traffic, the staff must check that there is no one there,” explains Tisséo.

Lane recognition can take time, since it is “done on foot”. Agents go to the inter-station, each going in one direction, before meeting in the tunnel and together observing the absence of anyone on the track.

Seven hours to restore circulation

And when the operation of these evacuation handles is done in a chained manner, this contributes to further extending the stopping time of the metro. Because if, during this safety procedure, “another person activates another handle in another train, you have to start again,” underlines Tisséo.

This Thursday, it will have been necessary at least seven hours so that the line can operate normally again. And “three handles were activated yesterday,” adds the operator.

Coming soon, cameras in the trains

Systems that are generally activated without this being necessary, by “incivility” or “clumsiness” in most cases, depending on Jean-Michel Lattespresident of Tisséo, contacted by Toulouse News.

In order to respond to the problem, the transport operator launched a technical study phase to install cameras inside the trains. Those which will run on line C will already have them. We still have to wait to equip line A and B.

Moreover, more than 800 cameras are already installed in the stations. Thanks to this new tool, “this will allow us to better identify people who have fun pulling the handles,” specifies Jean-Michel Lattes. As a reminder, they risk up to 200 euros fine.

*assumed first name

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