Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: ARNAUD PAILLARD / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 18:46 p.m., June 15, 2023

On Thursday, the RATP said that an "accumulation of incidents" had caused the previous evening the blockage of five metro trains in the tunnel of line 4 which crosses the capital from north to south. "This is an exceptional incident because it is an accumulation of incidents that took place in a very short period of time," says the board.

The RATP said Thursday that an "accumulation of incidents" had caused the previous evening the blockage of five metro trains in the tunnel of line 4 which crosses the capital from north to south. "This is an exceptional incident because it is an accumulation of incidents that took place in a very short period of time," said the director of the rail network Agnès Ogier at a press conference at the headquarters of the RATP.

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Evacuation of the four shuttles from 19:50

Around 18 p.m., in the middle of rush hour, a signaling incident first slowed traffic in the southern part of line 4, partially automated. At 18:42 p.m., a passenger stuck his bag in a door at Cité station, in the center of Paris and the alarm signal was sounded, freezing five trains in the tunnels. At 19:24 p.m., one of the same trains that were supposed to leave encountered damage. Several hundred travelers were stranded.

With the heat, "some customers ended up opening the doors in a shuttle (train in the jargon of the RATP, Editor's note) which was close to the platform", and the management organized the evacuation of the other four shuttles from 19:50, sending 125 agents on the line. The last user returned to the platform at 21:30 p.m.

A breakdown on line 1 in 2018

According to Agnès Ogier, the situation would not have been different with drivers in the trains. "We are sorry," said the head of the RATP, apologizing on behalf of the company. The CEO of RATP, former Prime Minister Jean Castex, has called for an internal investigation, the conclusions of which will be made public.

In the summer of 2018, a breakdown on Line 1, also automated, had already stranded thousands of passengers in overheated trains for long minutes. "An action plan has been carried" since, "we are not on the same breakdowns," said Ms. Ogier. RATP promises once again to improve its passenger information system. "Some shuttles had a lot of information, others less," Ogier said.