2024-08-06 22:56:24
Tens of thousands of commuters suffered a second day of disruption to high-speed train traffic in France on Saturday due to sabotage just hours before the opening of the Paris Olympic Games, which police are still investigating.
Early on Friday morning, fibre optic cables close to the tracks that transmit safety information to drivers were cut and set on fire at several points along the network.
A source close to the investigation into the case, opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, said it was a “well-prepared” operation, organised by “the same structure”.
The attack occurred hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, just as many travellers were planning to travel to the capital.
However, “all transport of equipment and accredited personnel” for the Games is guaranteed, said the French national railway company SNCF.
– «The competitions will not wait for us» –
At the stations, commuters seemed calm on Saturday, but those who had to take connections were worried.
In Bordeaux (south-west), Bruno Cévalier and Pauline Favard had to get to Lille station in northern France as quickly as possible to attend the Olympic basketball events.
“We hope to arrive in time to change trains in Paris. The competitions won’t wait for us, but we will get there,” they said as they ran towards the ticket inspector.
Following the sabotage that disrupted high-speed train lines (TGV), SNCF expects the network to be back to normal on Monday, thanks to the work of a hundred agents mobilised day and night to repair the damage.
The network’s agents “worked all night in difficult conditions, in the rain,” the company said.
Although the situation has improved, traffic remained affected on Saturday. On average, seven out of ten TGV trains were running on three major routes (North, Brittany and South-West), with delays of between one and two hours, according to the railway company.
SNCF forecasts that 600,000 people were expected to be able to travel over the weekend out of a total of 800,000 passengers affected by the incident.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said there had been no “alert” for possible threats before the sabotage, but that the “maximum alert” would remain in force until “further notice”, with 1,000 SNCF agents mobilised, as well as gendarmerie drones to monitor the railway lines.
“Everything will be back on the network on Monday morning,” said SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into damage to property affecting the fundamental interests of the nation, damage to the automatic data processing system by an organised gang and criminal association.
“We have recovered a number of elements which lead us to believe that we will quickly know who is responsible,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told France 2 television.
© Agence France-Presse
