Hundreds of agents on deck
During the night from Thursday to Friday, the fiber optic cables that pass near the tracks and guarantee the transmission of safety information to the drivers (red lights, switches, etc.) were cut and set on fire in various places on the network. According to a source close to the investigation, a “well-prepared” operation, organized by “the same structure”.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergeat said on Saturday that the SNCF mobilized about a hundred agents to repair the damage. On the lines of the demolition, “about a hundred agents were mobilized in difficult weather conditions”. “During the night, in the rain, with spotlights, they connected the wires one by one,” explained Jean-Pierre Farandeau, CEO of the SNCF.
Most TGVs are running on normal tracks this Sunday, but drivers must drive “as they see” because “the rail no longer tells us if there might be an obstruction”, explained Nicolas Mailly of SNCF Voyageurs.
The investigation is progressing
Arson attacks affected signal boxes in Courtelain (LGV Atlantique), Croisilles (LGV Nord) and Pagny-sur-Moselle (LGV Est). According to Patrice Vergiatte, there was “no warning” about potential dangers before the sabotage, but surveillance was switched to “maximum alert” “until further notice”, with a thousand SNCF agents mobilised as well as gendarmerie drones to monitor the railway tracks.
An investigation was launched by the Paris public prosecutor’s office for property damage harming the fundamental interests of the nation, damage to an automated data processing system by an organised gang, and criminal conspiracy.
According to a source close to the case, the investigation involves more than fifty gendarmerie investigators. Samples taken at various locations were sent to specialists from the Institute of Criminal Research of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) for immediate analysis. “We have recovered a certain number of elements that allow us to believe that we will know very quickly who is responsible for not just clearly sabotaging the Olympic Games, but who sabotaged part of the French holidays,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Saturday.
Message of support for vandals
On Saturday, several media also sent messages of support for the vandalism. Signed “An Unexpected Delegation”, it justifies the actions and criticizes the Olympic Games by resorting to the dialectics used by anarchist far-left activists.