Paris Métro train fire

It was worked by a mixture of 4-car (single) and 8-car (double) trains, of the M1 stock, which turned on loop tracks at each end of the line so that the same car remained in front.

The fatal decision was made to lower the shoes and move it under its own power, when in fact the motor had not simply overheated, but had a short circuit.

Unaware of the severity of the situation, the driver kept the train moving until it was back in the tunnel, and only then stopped for help at the first station (Combat, now Colonel Fabien).

The driver was still focused on moving the train off the line, but clearly it could not be driven from the front, and there was no way to electrically disconnect the motor cars and drive it from the rear.

Rather than pulling forward to the station exit as usual, the driver stopped his short train halfway along the platform to confer with the stationmaster.

With the danger finally understood, the decision was made to evacuate to the street — but by now the passengers, some of them having already been ejected from two trains, were becoming uncooperative.

Couronnes station was plunged into darkness just as a dense, choking cloud of smoke emerged from the tunnel leading to Ménilmontant.

By using much lower currents in their control circuits, these greatly decreased the risk of fire in the case of a traction power failure.