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Weekend Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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SNCF has officially announced that the Brétigny derailment was caused by a fishplate on the points that came loose and fell off.

According to the president of the region:

Brétigny : Jean-Paul Huchon n'exclut pas un acte de malveillance - Libération Brétigny: Jean-Paul Huchon does not preclude a malicious act - Liberation
Jean-Paul Huchon, président PS de la région Ile-de-France et du Syndicat des transports d'Ile de France, n'a pas exclu que la catastrophe ait pu être provoquée par un acte de malveillance. «Cette pièce était tenue par quatre boulons et il paraît bizarre, curieux en tous cas, que les boulons aient tous sauté en même temps alors qu'un train est passé une demi-heure avant et n'a signalé aucune difficulté. Les hypothèses sur ce qui s'est passé sont de toutes natures: ou c'est une pièce mécanique qui était fatiguée, obsolète, ou bien alors ça peut être aussi un acte de malveillance. Personne ne peut à ce stade de l'enquête l'affirmer mais personne ne peut l'exclure non plus», a-t-il déclaré.Jean-Paul Huchon, President PS of the Ile-de-France and the Union of Ile de France transport, did not rule out that the disaster could have been caused by a malicious act. "This part was held by four bolts and it seems odd, curious in any case, that the bolts should have all "jumped" at the same time, while a train passed half an hour before and reported no difficulty. There are all kinds of hypotheses about what happened: either it is a mechanical part that was worn out, obsolete, or else it could also be an act of malice. Nobody can assert this at this stage of the investigation, but nobody can exclude it either ", he said.

A police union had stated that local youths had engaged in looting and in "stoning" emergency personnel, but this is being denied now by the Transport Minister, the Red Cross, and SAMU (medical emergency teams).

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 10:56:44 AM EST
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The method of failure at Potters Bar...exactly.

Caused on that occasion by a privatised inspection programme which didn't do what everybody thought it did.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 12:34:50 PM EST
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Oddly, there was talk of vandalism then as well

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 12:37:09 PM EST
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Well, a metal connector fixed with four bolts with locking washers doesn't come loose that easily. One can understand why the investigators are suspicious.
by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 01:01:17 PM EST
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So were our inspectors. Until they discovered the ocean of difference between what Network rail thought they'd contracted and what the 4th or 5th tier of lowest bid contractors thought they were in for

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 03:00:13 PM EST
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This was inspected a matter of weeks ago, apparently.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 at 02:21:49 PM EST
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Weekend Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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