Paris (AFP)

Should we fear "traveling clusters" of Covid-19 on board TGVs?

In a report, unveiled by Mediapart, the Rhône labor inspectorate points to "insufficient air renewal" in these trains, but the SNCF defends itself, saying on Friday that it applies "with the greatest rigor" the health instructions .

This report was produced after the SUD-Rail union had exercised "a right of alert for serious and imminent danger," the latter told AFP.

But "we do not want to do catastrophism, or empty the TGV", where "there are no clusters, no more risks than in an RER or a supermarket", insisted Erik Meyer, federal secretary of SUD- Rail. "The heart of our approach is the health of the employees on board", because "the management does not take the necessary preventive measures", he explained. SUD-Rail is particularly asking for FFP2 masks for controllers.

According to the report of the labor inspectorate, consulted by AFP, the levels of CO2 - indicator of renewal and air quality - reached on May 12 on the floor of a car of a TGV Lyon -Montpellier on average 1,380 parts per million (ppm, unit of measurement of the rate of pollution in the air), with "a peak" at 4,200 ppm after a stop in Valence.

"The readings indicate values ​​greater than 800 ppm over the entire path", which "highlights insufficient air renewal", writes the labor inspectorate.

However, notes Mediapart, the concentration level of 800 ppm of CO2 is the threshold not to be exceeded recommended by the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) in enclosed spaces open to the public.

SNCF stresses that the recommendations of the HCSP do not concern rail transport, where the regulations set the level at 5,000 ppm "under all operating conditions".

"These European standards are more than ten years old. It would be good to review them," replied Meyer.

- "A risk of exposure" to the virus -

In addition, still defends the SNCF, "TGV equipment is designed to maintain a level of CO2 between 1,000 and 1,500 ppm", with a continuous supply of outside air "and equivalent to 20 m3 of fresh air per hour and per traveler ".

And "the recycled air constantly undergoes mechanical, hygrometric and thermal treatment which makes it possible to reduce the rate of viral particles diffused by aerosolization".

The railway company "applies with the greatest rigor all the instructions and rules of the health authorities, in terms of ventilation or filtration of the air on board trains, as it enforces the obligation to wear a mask", a- she assured.

But, notes Mediapart, unlike airplanes, TGVs are not equipped with high performance filters.

Without these, claimed by SUD-Rail, "TGVs are contaminants", says Bruno Andreotti, professor at the École normale supérieure, specialist in the physics of virus dispersion and ventilation, quoted by the media in line.

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In its report, the labor inspectorate also points to "the lack of traceability of the disinfection carried out on board".

And a seat can be "reassigned to another passenger" after the departure of the previous one "without any disinfection" between the two, she criticizes, noting that travelers were wearing their masks badly or not at all.

In conclusion, it retains "a risk of exposure of the agents on board (and customers)" to Covid-19, "in the absence of effective measures allowing the respect of the barrier gestures" and of "a renewal of the efficient air ".

The Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, wanted to be reassuring.

"The figures we have, for more than a year and a half now, show that public transport (...) is not a priority place of propagation," he said on CNews.

This subject is "taken very seriously, we are currently carrying out studies with the French Atomic Energy Commission which has very fine modeling capabilities. The idea is to always progress if necessary we learn things during the course. of these investigations ", he added.

© 2021 AFP