Did the final surveillance tour, carried out eight days before the Brétigny rail disaster, require two railway workers?
The ex-railway worker who made it assured Wednesday, May 11, before the court of Évry, to have been able to devote all his attention to it, even alone.
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This former railway executive is on trial alongside the SNCF (criminal heiress of SNCF Infra, responsible for maintenance) and the track manager SNCF Réseau (formerly Réseau Ferré de France) for "
involuntary homicides
" and "
involuntary injuries
".
At the time, a local manager, he faces up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros, after the derailment of a train at Brétigny-sur-Orge station (Essonne) in 2013, which caused seven dead and more than 400 injured, physical and/or psychological.
A "faulty assessment"
The reversal of a splint, a sort of large staple connecting two rails, caused the accident.
At the time of the events, Laurent was 24 years old and in charge of around twenty agents responsible for maintaining the sector.
The prosecution accuses him of a “
faulty assessment
”, that of having carried out “
alone the last inspection of the tracks
”, with “
manifestly insufficient
” attention.
In his eyes, the executive should have been accompanied by an announcer, that is to say a person responsible for watching for the arrival of trains while he checked the switchgear.
At the helm, Laurent ensures that his attention was not tainted by the absence of an announcer.
He says he “
looked at the notice board
” to find out when the trains were arriving.
“
I had in my head the timing of the trains for the next two hours
”.
"
Have you withheld the information for the four lanes?"
“, is surprised the president of the room.
"
No, (...) I looked for the tracks where trains were going to arrive in the short term, then I looked at the track where I was going to walk
".
Being alone lengthened the duration of his tour, "
but in no way
" did it "
affect technical aspects
".
“I did not know this document”
A lawyer for the civil parties questions him about a reference system evoking tours to be carried out in pairs.
" I was
unaware of this document
" at the time, answers Laurent, assuring that he would
not "voluntarily derogate from the rules
".
The president noted the multitude of references and standards cited by each other, calling on the parties not to "
drown the court
" with documents, as the investigating judges were during the investigation.
"
The agent on tour has a certain faculty of organization
", tries to summarize at the bar Alain Autruffe, legal representative of the SNCF.
“
The national standard does not require you to be accompanied by an advertiser.
»
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In addition, Laurent explained that he limited himself to "
a complete visual inspection of the track and the surroundings
", while he "
systematically asked for an announcer, or even two
" for the rounds of his agents who, unlike him, "
could have to intervene immediately
” by carrying out repairs on the track.
Laurent led two brigades.
The head of one of these brigades also testified on Wednesday.
“
How were the agents trained?
Was there a framework, points to imperatively respect?
“Asks a civil party lawyer, Marie-Laure Ingouf.
"
No, I learned with the elders and we trained the young people directly on the construction sites
", he replies, lamenting a loss of skills: "
The elders left in 2013
", the year of the accident.
The SNCF lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, qualifies this "
feeling
": the agents of his brigade had "
an average of 11.4 years of seniority
" in 2013. Since its opening at the end of April, this trial, scheduled for eight weeks, is the scene of bitter exchanges.
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On Wednesday, Me Ingouf underlined the problem of the “
economic gap
” between the means of the defense and the victims.
"
So much the better if the defense knows by heart
" the elements of the file, but we must stop "
insulting the lawyers for the civil parties
": "
yes, we were not able to work on the file in the same way
", but we we do not have the "
same economic luxury in this matter
".
When the SNCF was approached by a lawyer representing around twenty civil parties, including Fenvac, "
to obtain resources and in particular the remuneration of an expert, the SNCF paid him 180,000 euros
", wishes to specify, on the sidelines of the hearing, Me Marsigny.
"
The SNCF has not received any other request
, ”he told AFP.