Train crash near Paris
 

Not a good week for the rail industry, looking at the early pictures it reminds me a bit of the Potters Bar crash we had over a decade ago, very nasty.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23294630

Looks pretty awful. :(

Indeed, apparently the points (switches) were undergoing maintenance in the area, and there may have been problems with the points before. Obviously, far too early to tell, but it's quite possible, again, looking back at the 2002 crash at Potters Bar it was poor maintenance on the bar keeping the tracks on the points at the uniform distance which caused the train to derail at speed.

(The local news has a report which details the outcomes of the lengthy inquiry into the crash - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8J9GlaGVMg)

Generally speaking though, the SNCF is usually pretty on the ball when it comes to maintenance and safety, the French railways have a very good safety record, so whatever this is was either a freak accident or neglect, and if its the latter then the full force of the French legal system is about to descend on someones head.