Passengers took to social media after their train did not stop at Concorde, Champs-Élysées Clémenceau and Franklin D. Roosevelt stations on Tuesday evening.
At 21.50 on Tuesday, the train left Tuileries station and then sped past three stations without stopping. The train finally stopped at Georges V station.
According to passengers, the train hurtled through three stations and then dramatically stopped dangerously close to the Metro ahead of it. RATP confirmed there had been a “technical incident”, but said there had been no risk of collision.
#Ligne1 : on vient d’éviter un énorme accident… le train ne s’arrêter plus depuis 3 arrêts à deux doigts de prendre le métro de devant… la peur de ma vie
— Thomas ??x?? (@omisapro) September 17, 2019
“We just avoided a huge accident. The train did not stopped for three stops and then stopped a whisker from hitting the train in front… The fear of my life,” wrote 'Thomas' on Twitter, who claims to have been in the train at the time.
“The Metro was then taken off the network,” said RATP.
But there was no risk of collision between two trains when it did finally stop, according to the company. “The train stopped in accordance with safety procedures,” insisted RATP.
“While it was distressing, we assure you that no one was in danger,” it added.
But urban transport union Solidaires RATP said on Wednesday that the “runaway train” had left passengers helpless as it rushed past the Concorde, Champs-Elysees and Franklin D. Roosevelt stations in the heart of Paris.
The union opposes the policy of automating metro lines, saying that “only an RATP employee on board who is capable of stopping the train and driving manually can ensure the safety of our passengers”.
Just two Paris metro lines are automated — lines 1 and 14. During last week's huge transport strike by RATP workers over pension reforms, these were the only lines which kept working normally.
Explosion heard
If that wasn't frightening enough for passengers, an explosion was also heard prompting people to run out of the Metro station.
What was that???? I was on the train, train was waiting in Palais Royal station, and it felt like kind of a big explosion. People started to run out of metro station..
— ygtugur (@ygtugur) September 17, 2019
On Twitter, a person who says he was on board the train claims that an “explosion” sounded at Palais-Royal station.
RATP confimed the explosion, but they said it had been caused by a short circuit.
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I was on Line 1 Tuesday morning eastbound and it was behaving erratically, speeding up then down, very irregular; this was between Palais Royale and Hotel de Ville. That scared a few.
I travel metro line frequently and love that it is driver less. No chance of strikes or sleeping drivers.