Chris; thanks for all your efforts on this. I had no real idea what might be involved, or what was possible, hence I avoided asking for any specific action. But your rather generous answer to that question has, I imagine, given you a lot of work. So many thanks for that.

I see that you have rounded up the posts I did make; now all I have to do is remember what I was hoping to post but did not at the time ...

 
With my apologies that it has taken rather longer than I expected, stuving, I have now made at least a start on splitting off posts relating specifically to this new topic heading and merging them here.  The original post headings have been retained, wherever possible.

There are still some relevant posts in the 'France' topic in particular, and on the 'Wider Picture Overseas' board generally, which I will continue to identify, move and merge with these here.

Thanks again for your constructive suggestion.  Regards, CfN. 

 
Thank you for your very constructive comments and question, stuving.

I think I need to look again at this topic, to see how it could be split into a specific topic relating to HGV level crossing incidents, for example.

Please bear with me, while I work on that today.

CfN.

 
There was a thread about accidents involving very heavy vehicles at French level crossings, where the post I did not long ago would fit. But now that thread has been merged with several others here it's harder to see how it links with the previous ones, so I made a separate thread. I think this merged thread has taken merging a step too far.

Where there are threads with only a few posts each, with connected subjects, they can be hard to find - especially if they are scattered across a number of boards, then yes collecting them together makes sense. But here the merged thread is 23 pages long! That alone makes it hard to find something among lots of posts on diverse subjects. And long stretches of this thread are occupied by what was once a single thread, with perhaps an odd interloper inserted (based on date).

In a number of my threads, the common subject is happening in France, but there is another factor too for most of them (i.e. what happened). And, for the threads on these level crossing accidents, and on the train and railway failures on busy holidays, I think that other factor is more important. As a test, ask yourself if it is more likely that a post on something similar not in France would be added than one on a dissimilar event in France - I think it is.

There have now been two "dead train stuck for hours" events I would have posted about but didn't, as they would fit the original thread but don't seem to fit this one. What do you think, Chris?

 

They weren't - they were built from scratch as Lignes à Grande Vitesse, designed for at least 300 km/hr. The Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d’Azur is an exception where it upgrades the existing riviera line, but officially it's not being called an LGV (and work finally started only in December last year).

 
at what speed is classed as a high speed line in France?

 

There are no level crossings on high-speed lines, in the sense that applies in France.

 
High speed lines are designed with no level crossings.

 
Sorry - why "of course"?

 
From the BBC

 
There was a collision early this morning between a TGV and a military transporter vehicle at a level crossing at Bully-les-Mines (Pas-de-Calais). This was not a high-speed line, of course, but the direct impact at speed on such a heavy vehicle destroyed the drivers cab, and killed the driver. The load on the transporter (a bridge, most likely self-deploying) was thrown into a garden.

The crossing (no. 96) has four half-barriers, and it is unclear at the moment how the vehicle got to be there with them down. It was last in a convoy of civilian vehicles returning from an exercise, and the driver has already been detained for a variety of manslaughter.

From the Luxembourg Times:

 
Why did the truck try & reverse? It was able to move forward....

 
At a railway crossing in Meteren, a truck full of pears was hit by a passing train. The truck became stuck on the track when the barriers were lowered. The driver was unable to avoid the collision.

Five people sustained minor injuries, but according to local residents, "it was a lucky accident on all sides."


https://youtu.be/OjdpZnvtFB4?si=u0QhFfjrMN98sXO2

 
From the BBC:

 
Further news updates tonight, from official sources so they story should be correct now. The vehicle was a Ford explorer belonging to the army, but used for a driving lesson. Both student and instructor, serving with the 41st signals regiment of Douai, were killed; there was no other injured passenger. Four of the 100 or so passengers on the train were taken to hospital, none seriously injured.

The driver is reported to have said he saw the car stopped on the crossing, others say it was there before the barriers came down.

 
Newer reports correct that to a TER not a TGV, and the vehicle was a car with one other occupant who is seriously injured. This was a very violent collision, with the vehicle thrown forward against a house and then a steel stanchion.

 
Yet another collision at a level crossing in France this morning. Initial reports say that a TGV struck a vehicle (perhaps a bus) carrying soldiers, two of whom were killed. This was at crossing 85 on the line between Arras and Lens, at the D49 from Thélus to Bailleul-Sir-Berthoult. Why the TGV was on that line, and where it was going, I don't yet know.

 
Thanks for posting, stuving: that's awful news.

 
From Railtech:

The lorry was carrying rails, which you can see in the picture, from the Vossloh Rail Centre at Rönneburg . It didn't make it round the sharp bends on this access road in time. Assuming this was a normal level crossing, you do wonder if that was ever the right solution for this location.

 
Thank you, again, for your detailed post, stuving - this Coffee Shop forum's very own 'European correspondent'.  Your input is much appreciated.

CfN. 

 
A few added facts:
This crossing is in Belgium, on line 94, so Infrabel is responsible for it.
The main LGV  has been closed for some kind of work, so all Lille-Brussels high-speed trains had to use line 94.
Four TGVs and four Eorostar trains were cancelled; three Eurostar trains went via Mons instead.
Line 94 was closed from the accident (before 0800) until 1600 and is now full open (but will close tonight for permanent repair work).
The closure of the LGV for a major rebuild - it's now 27 years old - is 12-30 August for this section (as announced in February). The diversion via Mons was already being used by Paris-Brussels TGVs.

 
Tractor trailer detaches on level crossing and is hit by the train.

At least two injuries among the TGV passengers, unfortunately.

Mark


https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2024/08/27/see-how-the-eurostar-ploughs-into-a-trailer-stuck-on-a-level-cro/

 
They are still at it - after a bit of a lull. On Monday evening, a TER from Epinal to Belfort struck a convoi exceptionnel transportant un mât d’éolienne near Le Clerjus. A dozen minor injuries among the passengers; nothing worse than a broken ankle.

I think that rather lucky result was because, while the road is at nearly 45^o, the low loader was pushed at one end and straightened up. It also meshed with the train, which wasn't pushed onto its side, but just stopped very quickly.

Very few pictures; the best is from Vosges Matin (credit DR):


As to what this mast of a wind turbine really was, I've seen a prefabricated section on the road. Whether it could be a whole mast - presumably 80-100 m and at least as many tonnes - I'm not sure. The carrier is LASO, the big Portuguese haulier, which has been expanding across Europe recently (including opening in the UK recently). You'd think they would be reasonably clued up about the very variable rules on his kind of transport across Europe, but even so ...

Crossing 51 is not really close to Le Clerjus (or indeed anywhere); it's just the commune. The closest station is at a hamlet with the oh-so-French name of Bains-les-Bains.

 
What I find surprising is that neither the train, nor the bus, nor the crossing were equipped with CCTV and recording.

 
The only trial to come out of this accident, of the coach driver, starts this morning in Marseille. Views on on whether she did drive through the barrier or not are still divided as they always were, notwithstanding the BEA-TT report. Nothing new of any significance has emerged since. For some, the trial will finally decide, but no doubt some will never be convinced.

The trial itself is huge - 123 "civil parties" (or more), with a right to legal representation. It's the first trial to be shown by CCTV in another room (in Perpignan), following a change in the law. In some ways it's a surprise it's only scheduled to last three weeks.

SNCF are not directly involved, except as witnesses. Their request to be a "civil party" has not been accepted, but of course the court's decision could in effect find them at fault.

 
This French report from La Republique Seine-et-Marne Give far higher figures of 37 injured,three seriously (including the train driver). I'm not sure which is right (latest revised) version. It also has a picture; AFAICS the train split the lorry from its trailer and spun both parts round.

 
From TheLocal.fr


Collisions with HGVs in general, and convois exceptionnels in particular, do seem to be a large proportion of level crossing accidents in France. From other reports this lorry was a convoi exceptionnel, and it was apparently not permitted on this road.

In this case the train was loco-hauled, so perhaps it came out better than a TER (DMU) would have done. Even so, five carriages were derailed, but the fact that none fell on its side probably accounts for no-one being killed.