[1] The train had left Granville on time at 08:45, but was several minutes late as it approached its Montparnasse terminus with 131 passengers on board.

In an effort to make up lost time,[1][2] the train approached the station faster than usual, at a speed of 40–60 km/h (25–37 mph), and when the driver attempted to apply the Westinghouse air brake, it was faulty or ineffective.

[2] The railway company settled with the family of the deceased woman, and arranged for the education of her two young children, as well as proposing future employment for them.

[6] The wreckage remained outside the station for several days[3] and a number of photographs were taken, such as those attributed to Studio Lévy and Sons,[7] L. Mercier,[3] and Henri Roger-Viollet.

[9] The photograph, which is now in the public domain, is used as the cover page in the book An Introduction to Error Analysis by John Taylor.

It is depicted in the comic book series The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec,[15] in the 1978 fourth album Momies en folie.