First witness heard on the case of the Brétigny rail accident, Guillaume Pepy recognized "infinite moral responsibility" of the SNCF Thursday, April 28 but dismissed the thesis of an "aging network" or "poor organization ".
The trial of the drama opened on Monday April 25, nine years after the accident which caused great national emotion.
On July 12, 2013, the reversal of a steel fishplate - a sort of large staple joining two rails, derailed the Intercités 3657 Paris-Limoges train at Brétigny-sur-Orge station, causing the death of seven people and causing more of 400 wounded.
The court of Evry judged for eight weeks the National SNCF Company, SNCF Network and a railway executive for “involuntary homicides” and “involuntary injuries”.
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“It is a totally unprecedented accident, which has no precedent in 150 years of railway history in France and what I said and which I maintain today is that the SNCF is responsible of the lives of its customers, and that consequently, our moral responsibility for this accident is an infinite moral responsibility”, expressed Guillaume Pepy, after being heard by the court.
“Now the legal questions, what is the origin of this accident and what are the possible responsibilities, they fall under this court and the moment of justice is a moment which is very much awaited”, he added.