Guillaume Pépy testifies during the trial

After four hours of hearing, Thursday, April 28, at the trial of the train disaster in Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne) in the court of Évry, the former president of the SNCF Guillaume Pépy, summoned as a witness, said he had come for the victims. “I immediately wanted to tell them how much I feel in total solidarity and deep compassion with them”, affirmed the former CEO. The victims were waiting for answers.

They have not forgotten the words of Guillaume Pépy who, after the accident, had taken responsibility for the tragedy. On Thursday, the discourse changed. First, the former boss of the SNCF said that the young manager in charge of maintenance was competent. For him, all avenues have not been explored. “The maintenance was not optimal, it is an element of context, but it is not the only cause of the accident”, he said at trial. According to Guillaume Pépy, another scenario is possible: that of a manufacturing defect in the fishplate, this famous metal part which caused the derailment of the train. A speech that did not convince the civil parties. “The very evening of the accident, the expert services of the SNCF concluded that a bolt was missing, that the two other bolts came loose, and that the splint tipped”press Me Gérard Chemla, victims’ lawyer.