Woman dragged by train sues SNCF

A WOMAN who was seriously injured after getting off a train on the wrong side has begun legal action against the SNCF.

Christine Desfoux was trapped by a closing door and dragged several hundred metres as she attempted to get off a Corail sleeper train in Tarascon station in the Ariège on Saturday morning.

The train had stopped in the station and there was a platform on both sides of the carriage.

Mrs Desfoux and her husband Jean-Yves opened a door on the wrong side and started unloading their luggage when the doors closed on Christine.

The driver and conductor were checking the other side of the train and pulled away from the station believing no one wanted to alight there.

The woman's cries woke up the other passengers, who pulled the emergency alarm. She was taken to hospital with head injuries and suffering from shock.

Mr Desfoux - who was travelling from Caen to the Pyrenees with his wife for a weekend break - said the SNCF had been negligent.

He said there was no clear indication of what side of the train to get off and it should not be possible to open a train door on the opposite side to the platform.

"Something needs to be done before another accident like this happens - there is a real safety problem here. One day an old granny will be dragged under a train," he said.

The SNCF said it was shocked by what had happened but insisted these incidents were very rare. It is carrying out its own internal inquiry.

A spokesman said it appeared that the train crew had respected the standard security procedures. "They [the passengers] were not on the right platform, where the conductor was carrying out checks," he said.