SNCF has confirmed that 11 people were killed and 37 injured when a high-speed test train carrying railway technicians and their families derailed on phase two of the LGV Est between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim in northern France.
The train left the track on a bridge in Eckwersheim, 12 kilometres north of Strasbourg, at 15.20 on November 14 before plunging into the canal below.
Fifty people are thought to have been on board, including the families of technicians carrying out the testing. SNCF has confirmed that children were among those on board, but was unclear on why they had been allowed on the train at all.
Several investigations are now underway to identify the cause of the crash.
The first 300-kilometre phase of the LGV Est high-speed TGV line was completed in 2007. Work began on phase two in 2010.
Dynamic testing was expected to continue until spring 2016, with the test train reaching speeds of up to 352 km/h – 10 per cent faster than the line’s 320 km/h operating speed. It is unclear exactly how fast the train was going at the time it derailed.
SNCF Reseau had hoped to receive authorisation to begin operating passenger services along the entire LGV Est route by the end of Q1 2016.
