Automated safety systems brought a high-speed train to a halt after the driver apparently died by suicide.
On Christmas Eve, a high-speed train traveling from Paris to Saint-Etienne experienced a tragic incident when its driver jumped from the moving train, leaving hundreds of passengers onboard at a speed of 300kph (186mph).
Within a minute, the train’s automated systems detected the driver’s absence, initiating an emergency shutdown and braking sequence, according to the French national railway company, SNCF. No passengers were harmed.
“A crew member noticed the driver was missing from the cabin. It quickly became clear he had likely taken his own life a few kilometers earlier,” Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot stated on Franceinfo radio on Thursday.
The driver’s body was subsequently found near the tracks. The Melun prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the death, Franceinfo reported.
The deceased, 52-year-old Bruno Rejony, was a respected and experienced driver with 27 years of service at the company, La Parisien reported, citing an SNCF source.
Sources told the newspaper that Rejony had been grappling with personal difficulties and significant depression.
“The outcome could have been far worse had he intended to derail the train,” Tabarot commented on CNEWS Wednesday. This remark prompted strong reactions from rail unions and opposition politicians.
The SUD-Rail rail union criticized the minister’s statement for lacking any expression of support.
MP Sarah Legrain of the NFP similarly condemned the minister’s lack of condolences for Rejony’s family.
Berenger Cernon, an NFP MP and former railway worker, denounced Tabarot’s comments as “indecent and cynical,” highlighting the absence of “condolences and acknowledgement of the human tragedy.”
Tabarot, recently appointed on Monday, defended himself, asserting that he readily acknowledged the event as “first and foremost, a human tragedy.”