SNCF Mobilités was sentenced Monday by the Rouen Court of Appeal to a 100,000 euros fine for manslaughter, more than ten years after the death of a teenager on a track.
On July 2, 2010, Justine, 17, had been, in her mother’s words, “crushed” by a train crossing the Audrieu (Calvados) railway station at 147 km / h.
The bachelor had just got off another train and was taking the passageway arranged to cross the tracks, in order to join her boyfriend on the other platform.
After the criminal acquittal of SNCF Mobilités at first instance, the Caen Court of Appeal on April 27, 2018 condemned the railway company to a fine of 50,000 euros.
But the Court of Cassation had estimated in December 2019 that the Caen Court of Appeal had “not justified” its decision and had contented itself with “general considerations” by pointing in particular to the “negligence” of the SNCF potentially responsible for many deaths by not building a footbridge or tunnel allowing safe crossing of the tracks, according to the judgment of the Court.
The High Court consequently ordered a new trial to be held before the Rouen Court of Appeal.
“A dangerous stopover”
In this case, the SNCF recognizes that a single sign signaled the danger of crossing trains, while the regulations provided for two, and that this sign was a little smaller than required.
But the company believes there is no evidence that a second panel would have avoided the drama.
“This stop was of dangerous public knowledge,” said the lawyer for the civil party Gabriel Sibout during the appeal trial in Caen, recalling that the CHSCT and users had given the alert. A footbridge has since been built.
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