“We didn’t believe it, we said to ourselves, It’s not possible, they didn’t do that? », storms Camille, 22 years old. Because when this young woman got on the 8:34 p.m. train this Monday at Gare du Nord, in Paris, heading to Val-d’Oise, she did not expect to have to try some form of climbing to be able to return home. In fact, at least thirty passengers from line H, who got off at Écouen-Ézanville station around 9 p.m., found themselves stuck on the platform, with all the exits being closed by metal curtains.
“The usual exit was blocked after problems this weekend. I saw him in the morning when I left. But I thought that exceptionally we could exit through the station itself. But no, the agents closed as usual, apparently without worrying about the people arriving on the following trains,” she notes.
After a certain annoyance for some, it’s time for system D for the passengers. The latter then decide to climb, in Indian thread, the almost two meter gates surrounding the station. “We found a trash can to use as a step and some nice people helped with the short ladder to the other side,” describes the student. So much the better, because it’s still high and not everyone is nimble, she notes. But there were strollers and bicycles, I don’t know how they did it. »
The SNCF says it is “heartbroken”
As for the SNCF, this incident for which it says it is “sorry” is due to “a malfunction” following “acts of vandalism” a few days earlier in this same station. “With significant damage to the equipment (vandalized gantries, stolen intercoms) which did not make it possible to remotely open access to the station,” explains the railway company. Photos published this Saturday on social networks indeed demonstrate the damage. But the company assures that the situation was quickly resolved: “As soon as the alert was raised by the travelers, an agent was urgently sent to the site and was able to reopen access twenty minutes after being alerted.”
“I have doubts about the timing because the train before us apparently had the same problem,” says Camille. When we arrived at the station, I saw a man already going through the gate with his child. I wondered why he had this funny idea and then I quickly understood.” The young Val-d’Oisienne is happy about only one thing in this adventure which she would have done without. “Fortunately, people did not go down on the tracks, it could have been dramatic.”