2024-07-26 12:52:15
Friday’s attacks were launched as the French capital came under heavy security ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony, with 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs expected at the event.
What is targeting?
The fires affecting France’s Atlantic, northern and eastern lines led to cancellations and delays at the time of heavy traffic for summer holiday travel.
The map below shows how the arson attacks were in a position to affect three of France’s first four high-speed rail lines – the fourth was only protected because an attack attempt had failed.
A map of today’s sabotage of train lines #France pic.twitter.com/13mP7pyvs5
— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) July 26, 2024
“Early this morning, coordination and preparatory acts of sabotage were carried out to the installations of the SNCF,” said the national railway operator, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
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SNCF president Jean-Pierre Farandou said the attackers had started a fire in the “transmission systems of multiple cables (fibre-optic)” that transmit “safety information for the driver” or control the motors for the points that change the rails. -steel.
Who is it?
About 800,000 passengers are expected to be affected over the weekend as the damage is heavy and difficult to repair.
France’s rail network is expected to be busy this weekend, not only because of the Olympics but also as people return from or leave for their summer holidays.
“There are big and important consequences for the rail network,” added Attal.
About half of services on the affected lines are expected to be canceled and Eurostar – which uses a high-speed line between Paris and Lille – is also affected with up to a quarter of trains cancelled.
You can find all the latest on the relevant services HERE.
SNCF’s Farandou said: “There are a large number of interconnected cables. We have to rebuild them one by one, it’s a manual job” that requires “hundreds of workers”.
It is expected that normal operations will resume on Monday.
Who are the sinners?
SNCF president Farandou said that train workers doing night maintenance in central France saw unauthorized people, who fled when the workers called the police.
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France’s intelligence services are scrambling to determine the perpetrators of the sabotage, a security source told AFP. The aggressive approach used resembles past attacks by top players, the source added.
SNCF bosses added that the attack method suggested an intimate knowledge of the French rail network.
In September, violent attacks on transport systems containing railway cables caused travel chaos in northern Germany, with a claim of responsibility posted on a far-left website.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement her office had opened an investigation into a suspect suspected of undermining “fundamental national interests”.
The investigation will also look into suspected corruption by an organized crime group and an attack on an automated data processing system.
His statement described the acts of sabotage as “deliberate damage caused to the sites of the SNCF on the night of July 25-26, 2024.”
Keep up with the latest developments HERE.
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