RailEnquiry

France’s Transport Minister said human error did not cause a train derailment outside Paris that left six persons dead.Frederic Cuvillier said on Saturday that around 30 people were still considered injured. In all, nearly 200 people sustained injuries in the initial accident, when four train cars slid toward the station, some falling over.The Friday night crash was France’s deadliest in years, but Mr. Cuvillier said it could have been worse and praised the driver who sent out an alert quickly, preventing a pile up.Mr. Cuvillier said it was unclear what did cause the accident, but authorities are looking into an error in the switching system as well as other possibilities.

Faulty rail joint

Meanwhile, an official said a faulty rail joint may have caused the train derailment. Pierre Izard, an official with the SNCF rail company, told reporters on Saturday that investigators found that the joint had moved from its normal position.Officials said that another train had traveled through the station just before the accident without incident. An investigation will determine why the rail joint, which is part of the switching system that moves trains from one track to another, detached.