Rail strike: Train passenger assaults driver, causes Paris rush hour havoc (PHOTOS)

2015/01/29
Reuters / Charles Platiau

In the suburb of Torcy, the passenger set off the train alarm system after his hand got stuck in the closing doors, and then head-butted the driver, who had left his cabin to reset the alarm system.



The passenger then fled, and the train driver had to be taken to hospital with a broken nose, French newspaper Le Parisien reported.



This could have ended there, but the attack caused a strike among other train drivers, in turn triggering disruptions on the RER A line. It runs through the city center, so commuter chaos began across the whole city.



Additional buses had to be arranged to take angry passengers to their workplace, but still havoc reigned at major Metro stations such as St. Lazare.



The Secretary of State for Transport has expressed his "solidarity" with the attacked driver, but said that the interruption of traffic on the busiest line in Europe "can’t be the right answer."



Alain Vidal demanded “the RATP [Paris transport system] management and labor organizations to develop an appropriate and responsible response to these exceptional circumstances, taking into account the need to protect employees and respect for commuters.”



RER A serves about 1 million passengers a day, connecting the western suburbs to the Defense business area and the city center.



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