Saint-Chamond english summary

At 8:30 a.m. on Thursday June 2, 2022, in Saint-Chamond, a dump truck fell from boulevard de Fonsala onto the SNCF tracks, having left its lane just before the road bridge. In its fall of over 9 meters, it tore off the catenaries, causing a power failure on both railway tracks.
The truck driver, aged around 30, was only slightly injured and was able to extricate himself from the wrecked vehicle.
No trains were in the vicinity at the time of the truck’s fall, which also fortuitously activated the train stop device.

The cause of the truck’s fall has been identified. The truck’s excessive speed at the entrance to the curve above the bridge caused the driver to hit the steering wheel and lose control of the vehicle. The truck climbed onto the sidewalk some 20 m before the bridge, rolled onto the side of the road and then collided with the extension of the bridge’s railing. In its fall, it bent a catenary pole before falling onto the 2 railroad tracks.
The restraining devices upstream and on the structure were unable to prevent the truck from falling.

The BEA-TT investigation found that the main cause was driver error due to excessive speed on the variable-radius curve preceding the bridge, which caused the truck to lose control.
The BEA-TT also identified the following contributing factors :
- protection of the structure with a corriger not extended 50 m on either side of the structure ;
- the "offence of habit" or lack of attention or vigilance on the part of the driver, who was familiar with the route to the waste collection center.

An analysis of accidents on the overpasses of the national rail network shows a low frequency of vehicles falling onto the tracks, but with consequences that can be extremely serious.
The BEA-TT has therefore carried out a broader study on the protection of existing railroad overpasses against falling vehicles. Identifying structures where the risk of a fall with serious consequences is proven would enable us to target development operations aimed at limiting this risk.

The BEA-TT makes five recommendations :
- One to Saint-Étienne Métropole, concerning the structure where the accident occurred ;
- Four to the Direction générale des infrastructures des transports et des mobilités (DGITM), following a trajectory of progressive reduction of the risks of similar accidents on the national rail network. This trajectory, which necessarily involves contracting authorities other than the State, relies heavily on Cerema’s technical skills and institutional positioning.