| Denguin rail crash | |
| Date: | 17 July 2014 |
| Time: | 17:38 CEST (15:38 UTC) |
| Location: | Denguin, Pyrénées-Atlantiques |
| Country: | France |
| Line: | Pau - Bayonne |
| Operator: | SNCF and TER |
| Type: | Rear-end collision |
| Cause: | Under investigation, suspected SPAD |
| Trains: | 2 |
| Passengers: | 238 |
| Injuries: | 40 (4 seriously) |
The Denguin rail crash occurred on 17 July 2014 when a TER passenger train collided with a SNCF TGV express train near Denguin, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. Forty people were injured, four seriously.
A high-speed TGV train on the Pau-Bayonne line was transporting 178 people when a regional TER train carrying 60 passengers crashed into it near the town of Denguin.[1] Nine people have been reported to be seriously injured.[2]
The TGV was travelling from Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées to Paris.[3] The TGV was reported to have come to a halt at a red signal near Denguin before proceeding under caution.[1] [4] At 17:38 CEST (15:38 UTC),[5] the TER train ran into the TGV, which was then travelling at 30km/h.[6] The TER train was travelling at 90km/h at the time of the collision.[1] Forty people were injured, four seriously. The driver of the TER train was amongst those seriously injured.[6] There were 170 passengers on the TGV and 70 on the TER train. Three of the injured were evacuated from the crash site by helicopter.[7] By the afternoon of 18 July, two people remained in hospital with injuries described as "not life threatening".[1]
Secretary of State for Transport, Marine and Fisheries Frédéric Cuvillier stated that signals were under maintenance at the time. Whether or not this was a causal factor in the accident would be part of the investigation. SNCF refuted suggestions that high temperatures had caused the TGV to suddenly slow.[7] It is thought that the TER train received a green signal and had no warning of the TGV ahead until it came in sight. The TER train had been travelling at 120km/h before the collision.[1]
The French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA-TT) have opened an investigation into the accident. A separate criminal investigation was also opened,[7] as was an internal investigation by SNCF.[1]
