The Haute-Saône firefighters were alerted around 3:20 p.m. by the rail traffic operational center. A TGV linking Toulon to Strasbourg hit a person who was on the tracks. The train was stopped in an emergency two kilometers further on.
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The accident concerns a TGV which connected, this Sunday, November 10, the cities of Toulon and Strasbourg and Nancy. Departing at 2:06 p.m. from Besançon Franche-Comté TGV, the double train struck a pedestrian shortly after at the They area, located on the RN 57, in the town of Sorans-les-Breurey, in Haute-Saône.
A dozen firefighters from the Rioz and Vesoul intervention centers were dispatched to the site, in parallel with SMUR 25 and the Haute-Saône gendarmerie. The person, hit by the train at a speed of nearly 300 km/h at this location, died, according to emergency services on site.
“We could not identify this person.” explained Lieutenant Didier Krebs of SDIS 70 in the evening. The emergency services, still on site around 7 p.m., carried out extensive reconnaissance along the tracks.
The TGV train, damaged at the front, was urgently stopped two kilometers further, near Neuvelle-les-Cromary. 600 travelers are on board, according to the Haute-Saône firefighters. No casualties were reported on the train.
On its application, the SNCF mentions a personal accident. “Traffic will only be able to resume after authorization” teams on site, specifies the company. The delay of the train, which left at 8:30 p.m. from Belfort TGV, accumulated six hours.
Traffic was interrupted in both directions and the damaged train was returned to Besançon Franche-Comté station for additional investigations. The passengers had to be picked up by another TGV, according to the SNCF, to continue their journey.
The circumstances of this person’s presence on the tracks remain undetermined.
