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# Versailles rail disaster after which France stopped locking railway carriages
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/8-maia-1842-goda-na-doroge-mezhdu-versalem-i-parizhem-sluchilas-pervaia-zheleznodorozhnaia-katastrofa-vo-frantsii/
- Published: 2022-12-13T08:31:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:52:07.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Geography, Monarchies, Society, Paris

On 8 May 1842, France's first railway disaster occurred on the line between Versailles and Paris.

The train, returning from the celebration of King Louis-Philippe's birthday at Versailles, was running with two locomotives, one at the head of the train and one at the rear. When the leading locomotive left the rails, the pushing engine kept on at full speed and drove the carriages into the fallen locomotive. In the terrible fire 55 people perished and another 40 were injured.

The tragedy was made worse by the fact that the carriage doors were locked, and the passengers could not escape from the burning, freshly painted train. At that time all carriages on the French railways were locked as a matter of course, for reasons of safety. Only after the Versailles catastrophe, which shook the whole country, was this practice abolished.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8049@13-12-2022_11-31-02.jpg)