Faulty tracks are likely cause of rail crash near Paris
The French railway operator SNCF has ordered safety checks across its network after a train crash near Paris which killed six people and injured 30.
The intercity train had just left the French capital on Friday and was on its way to Limoges when it derailed at Bretigny-sur-Orge and crashed into a station platform.
A track fault is suspected of causing the crash with rail company SNCF saying two rails had become detached outside the station.
"It moved into the centre of the switch and in this position it prevented the normal passage of the train’s wheels and it may have caused the derailment," said Pierre Izard, SNCF’s general manager for infrastructure.
French media are reporting that it could still take a number of days to clear the derailed cars.
President Francois Hollande has called for "much more" to be done to maintain the rail network.
Hollande told French TV more effort must go into conventional lines, with the priority on the regional network, in an interview following the annual Bastille Day.
SNCF said 385 passengers were on board when the train crashed and the station platforms were crowded.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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