2023-10-03 18:35:46
By RF and PL-B.
Published 4 hours ago, Updated 20 minutes ago
The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Several Internet users have reported in recent days the presence of pests in TGV or metro trains.
Haro on bedbugs. The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, will bring together the main transport operators this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. to discuss the noted presence of these pests on some of their lines. In addition to operators, users will also be represented through the National Federation of Transport User Associations (Fnaut). These different actors will “update following the reports received», says those around the minister.
This meeting, urgently convened last Friday, aims to “reassure and protect», insists the minister, who does not exclude “strengthen measures” and D'”act more to serve travelers“. The Paris town hall had called on the government to act against this scourge. In recent days, several Internet users have reported the presence of bedbugs in the trains of different types of public transport: several SNCF trains as well as Paris metro trains. A panic that is going badly a few months before the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The foreign press has not hidden its circumspection.
Asked by Le Figaro A few days ago, Stéphane Bras, the national spokesperson for the CS3D (Union Chamber of Rodent Control, Disinfection and Disinfestation) confirmed that it was indeed bedbugs. On the video shot Friday, “there is no doubt“, he specifies, before launching: “and there, given the size, it is obviously an adult bug which has already taken part of its meal“. But the presence of it on a train is not surprising, according to the specialist. Indeed assures him that the presence of these pests “is increasingly important in our society» et «affects all sectors, not just tourist accommodation». «There is no reason why public transport should be spared“, he blurted.
Strict protocol
Faced with these accusations, the SNCF had no choice but to defend itself. The public company explains that it has “received some reports of the presence of insects in recent days on certain trains“. Presences of bedbugs that remain “to confirm» we communicate internally, still ensuring that we take up the subject “very seriously“. However, “These are fortunately very isolated cases because we have experienced almost no cases in recent months», Specifies the SNCF. Before detailing the protocol put in place for each report: “As soon as suspicion is reported, as a precautionary measure the travelers are moved to another car and the suspect car condemned while all inspections and possible treatment are carried out.“. RATP, for its part, announced this Tuesday that following an internal expertise, “no presence of bedbugs was noted» on its lines.
Despite everything, professionals in the sector do not hide their concern, and question the level of information of all the players in the risk management chain. “We have been warning about the resurgence of bedbugs for several years.», explains Stéphane Bras, for whom the risk “was probably not taken at its true value“. The specialist believes in particular that this problem “must be controlled at company level“, and that it is absolutely necessary “that the risk is known, and that anticipation and treatment measures are more numerous».
In addition, he recommends putting in place “a major educational campaign on a national scale» and invites the general public to adopt “an attitude of precaution and anticipation», by avoiding displaying your belongings in all the cupboards of a hotel or by systematically inspecting your clothes after going to the cinema, for example. Fortunately, according to him, there is a real “toolbox with plural means of struggle», including standard treatments with an insecticide base but also canine detection, or even steam, heat or cold treatments. And proof according to him that “communication was not good enough” on the subject, “when you see an ant, you know it’s an ant. When it’s a bedbug, you call me to check».
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