Users of the Paris metro waiting for a train to pass (photo illustration). MARTIN BUREAU / AFP
Dozens of users were blocked for 1h30 underground, without air conditioning, while the capital was experiencing high temperatures.
An incident “exceptionalparalyzed line 4 of the Paris metro at rush hour on Wednesday June 14 at the end of the afternoon with many passengers stranded for more than an hour and a half in trains. RATP CEO Jean Castex has called for an internal investigation, the agency told AFP.
This incident led to the evacuation of five trains, stopped in tunnels, between two stations. Started at 7:25 p.m., their evacuation was completed around 9:40 p.m., according to the RATP. “We offer our apologies and deepest regrets for this event and the consequences it may have had. The CEO of RATP has requested an internal investigation to determine the exact causes of this rare incident“, declared this spokesperson to AFP.
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“Exceptional”
This technical incident, described as “exceptionalby the RATP, followed a “damage to a train” who has “disrupted the entire network between Porte d’Orléans and Montparnasse“. At rush hour and in the heat, five trains (or shuttles in RATP jargon) were stuck in the tunnel, “forcing travelers to wait” inside “before they can be evacuated“. The RATP spokeswoman was unable to provide an estimate of the number of passengers affected.
On the social network Twitter, photos and videos show passengers suffering from the heat in crowded trains, as well as a line of passengers evacuating along the tracks. “There was a spontaneous evacuationof passengers from one of the shuttles, the spokeswoman said, according to which the other evacuationstake place under the control of the RATP“. “The technical teams are hard at work to put the installations back into service and will allow the resumption of traffic as soon as possible.“, she added.