In France, an unusual news event has marked the country during these Christmas holidays, causing at the same time quite a few inconveniences on the railway network. A high-speed train (TGV) driver committed suicide by jumping from the train on Christmas Eve. His desperate act had repercussions for thousands of travelers on the line in south-eastern France, putting traffic at a standstill with delays of between 3 and 5 hours. All the media across the Alps report it at the beginning.
The driver “killed himself while the train was moving”, the leaders of the Sncf railway company declared in a press release. “As soon as he left his driving position, the train’s automatic stopping devices were activated and the train stopped automatically,” they pointed out. “The safety of train passengers was never threatened, nor was traffic safety, as the traffic management center was immediately automatically alerted,” the railway company said.
The prosecutor’s office of Melun (Seine et Marne) was the first to mention a possible suicide, specifying that “the first investigations seem to lead to the idea of a suicidal act” by the driver of a TGV train after the discovery of a lifeless body. “The automatic railway safety procedures ensured the stop of the train,” specified the same source. According to police, the driver’s lifeless body was discovered shortly after. The accident occurred in the south of the Seine et Marne region, in the municipality of Crisenoy.
Another judicial investigation was opened to investigate the causes of death and entrusted to the Melun gendarmerie. The Sncf, which spoke of a “terrible tragedy” which has thrown the entire family of railway workers into “mourning” on this Christmas day. According to a company spokesperson, this is the first time “in memory” that such an accident has occurred.