The deployment of firefighters was impressive this Wednesday afternoon near the future Joliot-Curie/Chateaubriand metro station in Rennes. But intrigued passers-by were quickly reassured. This was only a fire drill, the third and last of its kind before the commissioning of line B, still scheduled between the end of April and the end of May.
To test the security systems and emergency procedures for travelers, the authorities have been preparing for several months for any eventuality. In this case to a fire that would occur in a tunnel between two metro stations. “This is the most relevant scenario for us”, underlines Colonel Louis-Marie Daoudal, deputy departmental director of Sdis 35.
A fire drill is currently being conducted by firefighters in the future Joliot-Curie/Chateaubriand metro station in #Rennes. Don’t panic, it’s just an exercise pic.twitter.com/AH7bHQJCdb
— Jerome Gicquel (@jgicquel) February 2, 2022
As soon as the alert was given by the metro security PC, based in Chantepie, around forty firefighters stormed into the station at 4 p.m. Some firefighters then carried out the smoke extraction from the station while others came to the aid of extras, playing the role of victim, inside the train or on the platform. “This allows us to better understand the configuration of the premises because each station is different”, specifies the colonel.
Waiting for the green light from the safety committee
During March, a larger-scale exercise, bringing together all the emergency services, will again be carried out inside line B of the metro. At the same time, tests are also being carried out on the rolling stock by teams from Siemens, the CityVal manufacturer. It is only after all its tests that the safety commission will give, or not, the green light to the commercial exploitation of the line. “The file is under investigation”, indicates Matthieu Theurier, vice-president of the metropolis in charge of mobility and transport.
Since line A was put into service in 2002, no fire has broken out in the Rennes metro. Incidents are also very rare on the network, according to the elected official, referring to “an availability rate of 99.8%”.