An oversized truck enters a bridge between Toulouse and Montauban, train traffic is gradually resuming
Around 500 passengers were stranded around Montauban due to a “threatening bridge”. The circulation of six trains had to be completely interrupted, including on the Bordeaux-Toulouse axis. Traffic has gradually resumed since 10 p.m.
This Wednesday, February 23, shortly before 7 p.m., a heavyweight entered a stone bridge in Bessens (Tarn-et-Garonne), spanning the railway line on the Toulouse-Montauban axis.
The road, foreign, specifies the SNCF, did not know how to anticipate the size of his vehicle, too wide to cross. The truck weakened the parapets while trying to force the passage, damaging its axles. It is currently still stuck on the bridge, but “secured“, reassures the SNCF.
The exceptional situation, reported at the start of the evening by the gendarmerie, caused the interruption of six trains and the blocking of hundreds of passengers.
Still on site, the police are preparing to call in a road crane to free the truck, indicates the SNCF, which specifies that “the bridge infrastructure itself is not threatened”, but it is still necessary to ensure the integrity of the construction.
While waiting for the evacuation of the truck after the passage of the last train, around 11:45 p.m., traffic gradually resumes on the axis, at reduced speed. Traffic should be completely restored this February 24 in the early morning.