A runaway express train crashed through the wall of Gare Montparnasse in 1895, producing one of the most iconic accident photographs of the 19th century.
Key Facts
- Date
- 22 October 1895
- Time of accident
- 16:00
- Train involved
- Granville–Paris Express
- Passenger fatalities
- 0
- Total fatalities
- 1 (bystander struck by masonry)
- Impact site
- Place de Rennes, below station wall
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Granville–Paris Express was running several minutes behind schedule, prompting the driver to increase speed to recover lost time. As the train approached Gare Montparnasse, it was travelling too fast, and the driver's application of the air brake proved ineffective, leaving the locomotive unable to stop before the buffer.
At 16:00 on 22 October 1895, the express train overran the buffer stop at Gare Montparnasse, crossed the station concourse, and broke through the exterior wall. The locomotive plunged onto the Place de Rennes below, coming to rest nearly vertical on its nose, while its coaches remained inside the station.
Although all passengers on board survived the crash, a woman standing on the Place de Rennes was killed by falling masonry dislodged when the locomotive burst through the station wall. The wreckage and the engine standing upright on the street below were captured in photographs that became widely circulated images of railway danger.