Behind the scenes: how hospital TGVs responded to Covid-19
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we transported intensive-care patients to hospitals in specially equipped high-speed TGVs. Hundreds of SNCF employees brought a wide range of skills to this historic effort—now a proud chapter of our history. Learn more in this behind-the-scenes retrospective.
Hospital trains: joining forces to meet the challenge (in French)
Laying the groundwork for hospital trains
Covid-19 created conditions that France had never seen before. For the first time in our history, SNCF carried intensive-care patients to hospitals in high-speed “Chardon” TGVs.
The code name—the French word for “thistle”—came from a 2019 crisis-response exercise jointly organized by SNCF, the Paris Prefecture of Police, the university hospital trust (APHP) and the emergency care unit (SAMU) serving the Paris region. The scenario: hospitals in the capital are overwhelmed by a series of terrorist attacks, and specially equipped TGVs must transport critically injured patients to regional hospitals for emergency treatment.
This full-scale exercise set the stage for Covid-19 a year later. With the experience we had gained, it was much easier to set up 10 high-speed hospital trains and transport intensive-care patients to areas with more hospital capacity.
We operated
10
hospital TGVs during the Covid-19 pandemic
202
patients were transported between March and April 2020
It takes
48 hours
to prepare a hospital train
A historic day: 26 March 2020
Starting at 06.00 on Thursday, 26 March 2020, patients were transferred to Paris Est station, where a hospital train was waiting. It departed around 11.00 and reached Angers around 15.30. Some of the patients were treated there, while the rest went on to Nantes, where they arrived around 18.30. Behind the scenes, specialists at our Southeast Europe Technicentre had spent 48 hours preparing the train.
All hands on deck
SNCF Réseau created the special paths needed for the hospital train, and staff on our TGV East and Atlantic corridors handled traffic control. At Paris Est, station employees stocked the train with supplies, and Railway Security (Suge) officers were on hand as medical equipment was loaded and healthcare personnel came aboard. Suge officers also kept the train secure overnight and oversaw the boarding process for patients and care providers. Gares & Connexions employees marked the path to the platform, and a shunting specialist brought the train alongside the platform in Angers, where the train had to be reversed.
Onboard SNCF employees had a key role to play
Two drivers—one from Paris to Massy, and another from Massy onwards—a Traction manager and 2 train managers were on board. They had support from 2 specialists in our TGV driver support unit. And because the Covid patients were on respirators, a specialized electrician from our East Europe Technicentre was also on board to ensure a steady supply of power to the train. These SNCF employees were kept separate from the medical coaches to minimize contact with the patients and their care providers. Our people had the full range of protective gear—masks, biohazard suits, goggles and more—to protect them in the event of emergency. When the train returned from Nantes, it was completely decontaminated.
The story of our hospital train is now a podcast
Benjamin Huteau was responsible for scaling up this historic rail operation, which required the participation of 100-200 people across a wide range of skillsets for each journey. In this podcast, he takes us behind the scenes as SNCF specialists coordinate with the French Health Ministry, prepare the trains to give medical personnel the best possible working conditions, and add generators to run the patients’ medical equipment and provide backup in the event of a loss in catenary power.
“In all my career, I’ve never been through anything like it.” (in French)