There was a bit of tension this Friday in the meeting room of the Hôtel de Rennes Métropole. This is where the press was invited for a progress update on the progress of repairs on line B, which has been stopped since November 18. The announcement of the hoped-for reopening date of December 22 had not yet been made when a speech shocked and surprised. We tell you. While the boss of Keolis Rennes spoke for the first time of the suspected origin of the fire that struck an electrical substation on the brand new metro line, a spokesperson for Siemens Mobility got up from her chair. “What you have just described remains to be confirmed by the assessments still in progress,” she exclaimed before sitting down again, as if to restore the honor of her company, which had not otherwise been incriminated. Present during the last press briefing, the boss of Siemens Mobility was absent this time.
What Ronan Kerloc’h had just described said this: On November 18 at 6:40 p.m., a technical incident was highlighted at the level of the third axle of a train traveling between the ViaSilva and Atalante stations, which triggered sudden braking. ’emergency. The train was then brought back to the station where the passengers could get off. While leaving empty towards the workshop garage, this train saw an element under its third axle come into contact with one of the two electrical power bars, which caused a short circuit. It is this short circuit which could be the cause of the fire which occurred several kilometers away and which ravaged the electrical power supply of the automatic metro. Visibly surprised by this intervention, officials from Keolis and the metropolis recalled that “the investigations were continuing” but that the elements communicated seemed firmly established.
The question now is, whose fault is it? Designed by Siemens Mobility, do the 25 trains running on line B all have the same defect? “A priori, no. They have all been checked,” promises Ronan Kerloc’h. Please note that the train having experienced this malfunction will not be put back into service, while experts examine it. “We’ll have to worry about responsibilities later. This is the work of experts and insurance companies,” concluded vice-president of transport Matthieu Theurier.
Not best friends with Siemens Mobility
A legal battle cannot be ruled out. Especially since the Rennes metropolis had already shown itself to be particularly angry against Siemens Mobility when the commissioning of line B had to be delayed. According to President Nathalie Appéré, the German manufacturer had to pay “between 30 and 40 million euros in penalties” to the metropolis due to these delays.