The trial of the Brétigny-sur-Orge disaster opens on Monday before the Evry criminal court.
The SNCF, SNCF Réseau and an executive in charge of the maintenance of the sector are tried for homicides and involuntary injuries.
Nine years after the disaster, the prospect of this trial has revived the fears of many civil parties.
“When I told my mother that our train had rolled over, she first thought I was playing a joke on her,” recalls Lauriane Welter.
On July 12, 2013, at 5:11 p.m., the young woman, then 27 years old, was with her 5-year-old niece in Intercity n°3657 which joined Paris-Austerlitz to Limoges.
Launched at 137 km / h, the train is about to cross – without stopping – the station of Brétigny-sur-Orge, in Essonne.
“Suddenly, we felt the car rise and then fall almost as sharply, she continues.
It wobbled all over the place, suitcases were falling, people in the corridor too, then the train rolled over on its right side and continued to move forward for about 200 meters.
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Nine years after this train disaster, which killed seven people, injured 70, including nine seriously and left some 500 people in shock, the trial opens on Monday before the Evry criminal court.
For eight weeks, the SNCF, SNCF Réseau and an executive responsible for the maintenance of the sector, will appear for homicides and involuntary injuries.
Because if the origin of the derailment was quickly brought to light - a splice, a sort of large staple which connects the rails together, tipped over on itself, acting as a "lever" - the investigations brought to light numerous shortcomings in the maintenance.
According to an expert report, two bolts had broken, a third was missing, the last pivoted... In general,
experts noted that the tracks were poorly maintained at this busy station.
Conclusions that the SNCF has constantly contested.
“I turned on the radio and there I learned that a train had derailed”
"From the start, the SNCF minimized its role by claiming that this accident was not foreseeable when all the expertise shows that it was a programmed tragedy, if it had not been that day it would have been another “, deplores Thierry Gomès, who set up an association of victims * after the disaster.
On July 12, 2013, this Orléanais was waiting for his parents at the station for a long weekend.
"It was the first time since the birth of my grandson that the four generations were going to be reunited," he recalls.
He had proposed to his parents to pick them up at their home in Brétigny, but they had declined.
The fifty-year-old was therefore waiting for them at the station.
But at the end of the afternoon, he begins to worry: not only are they late, but the screen displaying the arrival times of the trains disappears suddenly,
the employees seem evasive when he asks for clarification.
“I went back to my car, I turned on the radio and there I learned that a train had derailed in Brétigny.
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The cell phones ring in the void, the toll-free number also.
Thierry's brother, who lives in the Paris region, immediately goes there, hangs around for hours to glean some information.
In vain.
The next day, the two men called all the hospitals and police stations in the region.
Still no news.
Thierry Gomès goes to each station served by his parents' train "just in case".
“We do all the scenarios, maybe their train stopped earlier than expected, they no longer have a cell phone or no battery.
The day passes, the uncertainty remains.
He still does not know that his parents were on platform 3, swept away by car number 6.
Sunday noon, listening to the radio – again – he learns that two octogenarians are among the victims.
" A few hours later,
the police summoned us to my parents' house for a DNA sample, but the official confirmation only came on Monday.
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"My niece's dress was stained with blood, except it wasn't hers"
Lauriane Welter and her niece were in wagon no. 4, the first to derail.
When the car went down, the young woman managed to cling to an armchair, catching the little girl in the air.
As soon as the train stopped, she considered leaving, changed her mind, fearing that the lines were still electrified.
“Finally, we quickly saw a railway worker who immediately took care of us.
Both suffered multiple cuts caused by the windows that exploded when the train went down and bruises.
"My niece's dress was stained with blood, except it wasn't hers," says the young woman.
But the physical injuries are nothing compared to the psychological shock.
Even today, Lauriane Welter is prone to anxiety attacks and flashbacks.
She who only traveled by public transport is still struggling to take them back.
“In nine years, I took the metro four times, the RER twice and the suburban train once,” she explains.
"Among the people who were on the train, many were very psychologically scarred and are still today unable to resume transport", insists Me Bertrand Burman who defends many civil parties.
And the advice to cite the example of this executive who resigned to no longer have to take the RER daily.
After several months of unemployment, she ended up taking a job as a saleswoman near her home but below her skills.
Lauriane Welter, she decided two years after the tragedy to pass her driving license to regain part of her "stolen freedom".
“Some have the feeling of reliving what had happened”
As the trial approached, many civil parties saw their anxieties resurface.
“Some have the feeling of reliving what had happened”, assures Me Gérard Chemla, another lawyer for the civil parties.
"It woke up the trauma they had put in a corner of their heads," adds his colleague Me Bertrand Burman.
Especially since their clients expect “responses” and “honesty” from this trial.
“It has been nine years since the victims of this disaster have been confronted with attitudes of lies and omerta from the SNCF”, underlines the first.
Some victims regret that there are not more railway workers tried.
The only one to appear is a local director, who had not seen the state of the splint a few days earlier.
The group faces a fine.
The railway worker faces up to 3 years in prison.
Justice
Bretigny-sur-Orge
Derailment
Paris
Court case
Company
Ile-de-France
SNCF