Crack addicts spark strike among Paris Metro drivers

Cocaine problem so bad that train operators refuse to stop at some ‘junkie land’ underground stations

METRO drivers in Paris yesterday went on strike to protest an “invasion” of crack addicts on the underground, saying the problem is so bad that they refuse to stop at certain stations.

Crisis talks were held with management and police as almost half the drivers on line 12 of the Paris underground network stopped work to raise awareness of the blight that one warned was turning parts of the French capital’s metro system into “junkie land”.

The issue first came to nationwide attention when SOS Usagers, a Metro passengers’ group, and the UNSA RATP Metro staff union issued a joint statement on the problem last week.

They said that while the Metro had been “invaded for years by groups of dealers who attract often aggressive and dangerous drug addicts”, the situation had become worse since construction work had started on line four – one of their traditional haunts – and the addicts had amassed on line 12.

“The number of attacks on travellers and RATP staff is constantly on the rise and is reaching increasingly dramatic proportions,” they said.

According to Damien Villette, 29, a driver on line 12, around 40 crack addicts, mainly in the stations of Marx Dormoy, Marcadet-poissonniers and Porte de la Chapelle, in northern Paris “inject themselves with needles and smoke crack on the platforms or on the trains”. He said there were regular brawls between addicts who were sometimes verbally or physically violent towards passengers.

They often caused delays when emergency services were called to treat those who overdosed, while drivers were obliged to cut the electric current when some rushed across the tracks to reach a dealer for a fix.

“Last year, there were … 850 traffic interruptions and power cuts because drug addicts crossed the tracks, carried out their business on the tracks, or pulled the alarm to stop the trains to either sell or buy drugs,” said Eric Chaplain, a driver and representative of the SUD-RATP union. At night, drivers call the area “junkie land”, he added.

Dealers are often visible at Saint-lazare and the Gare du Nord, where the London to Paris Eurostar terminates.

“When there are 15 to 20 drug addicts on a platform, it can happen that we don’t stop,” Mr Villette said.

The RATP said it was aware of the problem, adding: “We share our agents’ concerns and have been mobilised for several months.”

Paris police said it was increasing the number of patrols on the lines concerned and had arrested 283 dealers and 406 drug users in the past year.

Despite the controversy, experts insisted France is not facing an epidemic of illicit drugs. Christophe Descoms, head of the Paris judicial police drugs squad, insisted: “Paris is not drowning in crack.”