The photo shows a tiny insect on a white and white velvet seat. The caption reflects the panic of the passenger: "Would they be bed bugs in your trains, SNCF Voyageurs ?????," she wrote on X (ex-Twitter). The traveler specifies that the TGV left from the Gare de l'Est, and that "car 6 was infested, seats and carpet". It was enough to ignite the powder: published Tuesday, his tweet was viewed 4.6 million times in two days.
Would they be bed bugs on your trains@SNCFVoyageurs @SNCFConnect ????? pic.twitter.com/NyJKrdtvy0
— Dana Del Rey (@DanaShaam) September 18, 2023
Such a success that the SNCF was forced to deny. "To date, we have not had any confirmed presence of bed bugs in our TGVs in recent months," she says. Contacted, the railway company detailed to Le Parisien its "very regular" preventive treatment: thorough cleaning, application of anti-pest gels and diffusion of insecticides in inaccessible areas.
In the TGV, the SNCF sets up treatments (preventive and curative) of pests, such as cockroaches, ants, but also bed fleas, "scrupulously followed".
Concretely, preventive treatment is applied every 60 days: installation of specific traps, spraying insecticide in all cars and if necessary, laying diatomaceous powder in areas of humidity.
Intensive treatment in case of proven report
In the event of a proven report, intensive "immediate" treatment is applied, renewed and then controlled. If necessary, the trainset concerned is "out of commercial service". On the Intercity and night train side, the approach is similar and the number of cases has been "almost zero for several years".
The case of bed bugs in a UGC cinema in Paris, in Bercy Village (XIIth arrondissement) has undoubtedly marked the spirits. At the end of August, Le Parisien had revealed the experience of Nawal, a cinephile whose back was ravaged by bedbug bites at the end of a film session.
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"The employees have all confirmed to me that the rooms are infested with bed bugs, that they have received several reports," said Nawal. It infuriated me to think that the cinema is aware of the problem and that they are not even closing the cinemas. »
Since then, several cinemas in the capital have been invaded by bed bugs. A situation that pushes establishments to do screenings, expensive, on their seats, and that dissuades some spectators from going to the dark rooms.
