RER B. (Illustration) - A. Gelebart / 20 Minutes

Traffic on line B of the RER in the Paris region will resume normally from Monday, after four days of "intensive" work in the wake of the derailment of a train near the Denfert-Rochereau station, announced this Sunday the RATP . "Normal operation will be able to resume Monday morning on the entire RER B line," she said in a statement.

[⚠️Technical incident] 5:14 p.m .: Gentilly, Cité U and Port Royal stations are served, traffic remains disrupted with 1 train every 20 ', interconnection is suspended until the end of service. Normal traffic for Monday 29 June. #RERB #RATP

- RER B (@RERB) June 28, 2020

Two cars partially out of the way underwent an "exceptional lifting operation," said RATP, which also had to replace the rails and four switches over an area 150 meters long, and restore the track equipment (signaling and catenary).

Investigation launched after derailment

"Additional work will be carried out at night in the coming days," added the press release. Several cars on a train not carrying passengers got out of the track at around 7 p.m. Wednesday, leaving no one injured. An "extremely rare" accident, said the RATP after initial observations. An investigation was launched after the incident to determine the exact causes. Initial reports indicate that the train and the track unit had undergone recent preventive maintenance.

Since Thursday, traffic has only been partially restored, with a RER every 20 minutes between Gare du Nord and Massy-Palaiseau, with no stops at Port-Royal or Cité Universitaire (but with a stop at Denfert-Rochereau).

Busy, the RER line B usually carries around one million passengers a day, but the impact of the health crisis has reduced traffic on the network to 40%. RER B had derailed for the last time on June 12, 2018. Several cars in a train had gone to bed between Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse (Yvelines) and Courcelle-sur-Yvette (Essonne), causing seven minor injuries. The accident was caused by a ballast collapse, weakened by several days of heavy rain.

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  • Derailment
  • Works
  • RATP
  • RER B
  • Paris