The SNCF was found guilty this Wednesday by the court of Evry of homicides and involuntary injuries, nine years after the railway disaster of Brétigny (Essonne), which had left seven dead and hundreds of psychological and / or physical injuries.
The SNCF was sentenced to a fine of 300,000 euros, heavier than the 225,000 incurred, because of the state of legal recidivism of the company in terms of manslaughter, explained the president of the courtspecifying that the SNCF had achieved a turnover of 34.8 billion euros in 2021.
President Cécile Louis-Loyant, on the other hand, released the two other defendants: a former railway executive, who had carried out the last surveillance round eight days before the tragedy and the manager of the SNCF Réseau tracks (ex-Réseau Ferré de France) .
The court condemns the SNCF for having failed in its maintenance mission, as criminal heiress of SNCF Infra, in charge of maintenance at the time of the facts. On July 12, 2013, the pivoting of a splint, a sort of large staple joining two rails, caused the derailment of the Intercités Paris-Limoges, in Brétigny, south of Paris. This pivoting is, according to the court, the consequence of the evolution of a crack in one of the hearts of the track apparatus in question, a crack detected in 2008, but poorly monitored for five years.
Negligence in connection with the derailment
This damage should have been monitored annually by the SNCF. “ This negligence of core monitoring is definitely linked to the derailment “, declared the president, sweeping the defense of the SNCF which attributed the accident to an undetectable defect in the steel. If the SNCF had carried out these control visits correctly, it would have ” noted the damaged condition ” of the heart “ and changed it “, continued the president.
She also acknowledged that the derailment had ” undeniably affects the SNCF and its agents, in the heart of the greatness and the public service mission which is theirs: to ensure rail transport in complete safety “. She highlighted the various human and financial resources put in place by the SNCF to “ to bring assistance and support to the victims of the disaster “, before starting to list the damages to be paid to the very many civil parties.
(With AFP)