Paris Métro train fire
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The disastrous Paris Métro train fire occurred on the evening of 10 August 1903, on what was then Line 2 Nord of the system and is now
Fire
The line, less than a year old, was mostly underground, but included an elevated section four stations long from Boulevard Barbès to Rue d'Allemagne inclusive (today
On 10 August 1903, the first sign of trouble was at 6:53 p.m., when double train 43 completed the climb to Boulevard Barbès station with heavy smoke pouring from one of the motors on its front car, car M202. The train's passengers were evacuated onto the platform and its
The fatal decision was made to lower the shoes and move it under its own power, when in fact the motor had not simply overheated, but had a
The driver was still focused on moving the train off the line, but clearly it could not be driven from the front, and there was no way to electrically disconnect the motor cars and drive it from the rear. So he now asked for a push. By this time the passengers waiting at Barbès had boarded the next train (single train 52), which had then advanced as far as Rue d'Allemagne and was waiting for the signal to continue. It was now unloaded in turn onto the platform there and driven to Combat, where it coupled onto the rear of train 43. At 7:32 p.m. the triple train began moving slowly forward, powered by a single motor car and with the short circuit on the front car M202 still live and feeding the fire.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Firemen_inspecting_train_at_Couronnes_station_after_the_Paris_M%C3%A9tro_train_fire_of_10_August_1903.png/250px-Firemen_inspecting_train_at_Couronnes_station_after_the_Paris_M%C3%A9tro_train_fire_of_10_August_1903.png)
Meanwhile, the following train (train 48, another single train), advanced to Rue d'Allemagne and the passengers from trains 43 and 52 crowded onto its four cars. The combined train 43-52 next passed
With the danger finally understood, the decision was made to evacuate to the street — but by now the passengers, some of them having already been ejected from two trains, were becoming uncooperative. A fare refund was demanded, a lively altercation ensued, and then suddenly it was too late. Train 43-52 had barely reached the next station,
At about 8 p.m. the fire destroyed the one circuit supplying the station lighting. Couronnes station was plunged into darkness just as a dense, choking cloud of smoke emerged from the tunnel leading to Ménilmontant. In less than a minute, the station had become a death trap. Disoriented by the smoke and far from the exit, many people wandered the wrong way until they succumbed to asphyxia.
In all, 84 people were killed: 75 at
Hazards corrected
Just eight days after the disaster, the Métro system was ordered to undertake a series of corrective measures:
- Immediately
- Responsible managers must be assigned to each section of each line, ready to take charge in case of any incident
- Drivers must be told to isolate short-circuited motors from the power supply
- Exits must have lighted signs
- Temporary firefighting stations must be provided until hydrants are installed
- Stations must have unobstructed exit routes
- Within 15 days
- Electrical components must be fully insulated
- Flammable materials must be eliminated, particularly from drivers' cabs
- Fire hydrants must be installed
- A second, protected lighting power supply must be installed (this was placed under the track)
- By 1 November 1903
- Each line must be divided into electrically isolated sections
- Station exits must be widened
The double trains were quickly reduced from eight cars to seven, with the two motor cars now placed together at the front. But within a few years, in perhaps the disaster's most enduring legacy, multiple-unit trains were adopted. By using much lower currents in their control circuits, these greatly decreased the risk of fire in the case of a traction power failure.
See also
References
- Hardy, Brian (1988). Paris Metro Handbook (1st ed.). Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-104-X.
- Robert, Jean (1967). Notre Métro [Our Métro] (in French) (1st ed.). Musée des Transports Urbains, AMTUIR.
- Tricoire, Jean (2000). Un Siècle de Métro en 14 Lignes: De Bienvenüe à Météor [A Century of Métro in 14 Lines: From Bienvenüe to Météor] (in French) (2nd ed.). Éditions ISBN 2-902808-87-9.
Note: Of these sources, Tricoire gives the most detailed account of the fire and has been accepted as correct on details where the sources conflict.