Traffic completely at the Gare de l’Est stop? The fault of “an act of sabotage”, denounces this Tuesday the SNCF, after the arson on electric cables of a switch post in Seine-et-Marne, which practically paralyzed all traffic all the day in the Parisian station.
“This morning, we suffered an act of sabotage around 3 a.m., we discovered (…) significant damage,” said Olivier Bancel, number two of SNCF Réseau. “It is an act of sabotage on signaling cables which include safety circuits. “There is no lead, no claim from a group” at this stage of the investigations, said a source close to the investigation.
600 electrical cables damaged
According to the public company, “forty-eight cable arteries, or around 600 electric cables, were damaged” in a signal box in Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne). The SNCF lodged a complaint, and the Meaux prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation for willful degradation and endangering the lives of others. “Faced with the extent of the damage, additional time is necessary for SNCF Réseau to repair and replace the damaged cables as well as the test phases essential to the safety of the network”, explained the company in a press release. .
Transport Minister Clément Beaune denounced “a scandalous malicious act (…) with the deliberate intention of harming and very seriously disrupting traffic”, which “must be sanctioned and condemned”. He notably mentioned “traces of gasoline” and a fire “in two targeted points” which caused “a rather exceptional, very serious incident”.
On Wednesday, traffic will resume but slowly: one in three TGVs will run during rush hour and one in two during the day, departing from and arriving at the Gare de l’Est. One in two Transilien is planned on line P (Meaux and Château-Thierry axes) during rush hour and “normal traffic with off-peak adjustments”. TER Grand Est traffic should be normal “with service adjustments”.