Allinges, Millas ... Ste Eulalie? No, thankfully - 1/10/19

[whole diary]

[stuving]

Another near miss at a level crossing, this time at Saint-Eulalie on the northern edge of Bordeaux (No 508). Yesterday at about 8:15/8:30, a TransGironde service 301 bus from Libourne to Lormont, carrying about 10 teenagers to school, was caught in traffic, still on a crossing, when the barriers closed. The driver moved forward as far as he could, pushing one car as he did so, while the passengers rushed to the front (he refused to open the doors). The train missed the back of the bus by centimetres - but reports differ as to whether it stopped short or shot past (on the other track it could not have passed).

What led to this was traffic queuing back from the traffic lights on the main road (Avenue de l'Aquitaine), 110 m from the crossing. The driver admitted that he misjudged the space for his bus (or, I suspect, how far the cars in front would keep moving). Obviously everyone is being pretty rude about the bus driver, who has been suspended from work. The local maire was also talking about the urgent need to close this LC^▸ (Level Crossing) (PN), and it turns out it's on SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways)'s little list (with 509, on a lane leading to the gare de Sainte-Eulalie - Carbon-Blanc). I can see two trains that might have been involved - 8:21 not stopping or 8:48 stopping at Sainte-Eulalie - Carbon-Blanc. Presumably the stopping train would have slowed enough to make its braking in time more likely. The first train is listed as arriving on time; the second 5 minutes late. (But note that the information in bulletins de retard does not seem to be at all reliable.)

That leads to the question about what the response should be to a near miss, but a very serious one - and of a sensitive kind in France. The bus driver exchanged details with the driver he'd shunted, and drove on - later calling base to say he'd had an accident, but not mentioning trains! That must have made his later interview with his boss even frostier. I've not seen any news yet about the SNCF response at the time, though they would have gone out to examine and test the crossing as a matter of course. But did the train really proceed to Bordeaux almost immediately?