The SNCF was not alerted when the large influx of supporters from the RER D, which it operates, caused congestion at the gates of the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, before the Champions League final on 28 May, an official said Tuesday.
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"
We have had no alert on the theme + there are problems, we no longer absorb, so remember the RER D +
", explained Sylvie Charles, director of Transilien (the branch of the SNCF in charge of the trains of the suburbs of Paris), during a hearing before the Senate devoted to the fiasco of crowd management around the stadium.
However, its services transmitted every half hour to the organizers the number of supporters counted at the exit of the two RER stations serving the stadium, on lines B and D, she noted.
The SNCF counted 37,000 people, "
more than three times what we usually have
" on the RER D, and 6,200, "
a third of what we usually have
", on the RER B. RER traffic B having been affected by a strike by RATP agents, many supporters went to line D. And the filtering devices on arrival at the stadium were overwhelmed.
No major incident in their area despite high attendance
In this regard, RATP Deputy Director General Philippe Martin noted that a meeting with the authorities and organizers on May 24 "
clearly specified the transport plan (and) clearly indicated that we were going to postpone part of flows from line B to line D
”.
"
There was an AFP dispatch on May 26 which clearly indicates that the RATP invites travelers to use line D as a priority
," he added, noting that a new "
situation update
" had been made with the French Football Federation on May 27, the day before the match.
Philippe Martin also said he was "
a little surprised at the statements of the French Football Federation
".
Its director of institutional affairs, Erwan Le Prévost, had indeed denounced the lack of information from the RATP, during a previous hearing in the Senate, on June 9.
“
If we had had real-time information on the diversion of flows from RER B to RER D, we could have redesigned our system at the start of the afternoon.
The prefecture did not have the information either
,” he said.
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The representatives of the RATP and the SNCF underlined that their competence stopped at the gates of their stations, and that there had been no major incident in their area despite the high attendance.
Sylvie Charles, however, reported a fight in Saint-Denis and the beginning of a stampede in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, as well as the presence of pickpockets.
