It is the largest station in Europe.
No less than 600,000 passengers swarm every day in the bays of the Gare du Nord, in Paris, while 3,000 agents are responsible for running it.
An expert report, revealed by Le
Parisien
, concludes that all these little people are in fact in serious danger.
The expert, a certain François Pinchon, submitted his 120-page conclusions to the StatioNord company, which had commissioned him to carry out a complete diagnosis of the building.
Three particularly serious risks, that is to say likely to cause death, have been documented by the expert: a fire on the Eurostar footbridge, falling concrete blocks on the tracks of the Franco-British train and the collapse of some routes.
In the case of the falling concrete blocks,
Le Parisien
indicates that the report includes photographs revealing the weaknesses of a building which dominates the Eurostar tracks.
And that's not all: the SNCF confirmed these weaknesses last summer, without having acted accordingly since then.
Read also“The Gare du Nord no longer has much to do with France”
In his expert report, the agent “
recommends that all safety-related issues discovered during the project be examined with the greatest attention
”.
And to seriously alert: “
subject to the information that has been transmitted to him, they are likely to compromise the safety of property and people
”.
"Insecure"
This alarming document was produced in the context of a dispute between the SNCF and the real estate subsidiary of Auchan, Ceetrus.
The latter, co-shareholder of StatioNord with the SNCF, had been chosen by the railway group to lead a vast program of renovation of the Gare du Nord.
But the SNCF changed course shortly before the work started, in September 2021, terminating its contract with Ceetrus to carry out the redevelopment of the station itself.
The commercial and administrative courts have been seized and two legal proceedings are in progress.
The SNCF disputes the existence of potentially fatal risks within the station.
“
The Gare du Nord is subject to regular audits and checks
,” recalls the company.
The major renovation work began in December and required an extensive structural diagnosis beforehand.
“
The one-off incidents in question date from 2021, and have always been the subject of adequate and immediate treatment
”, we say to the SNCF, which “
naturally constantly takes all measures to ensure the perfect safety of its customers and staff
.
Barely revealed by
Le Parisien
, the conclusions of the expert report are already arousing the excitement of local residents and users.
They address the public authorities directly on social networks.
“
In addition to the insecurity linked to drug addiction (…) and other trafficking, in short to delinquency, is it now also the insecurity of the building and the roads?
“, is indignant on Twitter a collective of residents of the station.
Last January, seven people were injured inside the station during a violent attack.
