Faulty switch blamed for French derailment The train derailment near Paris that left six people dead was likely caused by a faulty switch. THE derailment near Paris that left six people dead and dozens injured was likely caused by a faulty part in the switch that allows trains to change tracks, the SNCF national rail company says. "This bond," a kind of steel clip that links two rails on a switch, "broke away, it became detached and came out of its housing," Pierre Izard, SNCF's general manager for infrastructure said on Saturday. The company added that it had ordered checks of some 5000 similar devices on the network.