2024-07-27 02:00:07
The start of the summer weekend saw disruptions to SNCF train traffic, while the day after France’s high-speed rail (TGV) network came under attack in a “large-scale” and “well-prepared” attack that has yet to be confirmed.
The situation is improving but rail traffic will still be disrupted on Saturday, with two-thirds of high-speed trains running on the Brittany and South-West axis and 80% on the North axis – all trains delayed by one to two hours, while traffic is normal along the East high-speed line, SNCF forecast on Friday.
At this stage, the airline still expects disruptions on its northern axis on Sunday, while its Atlantic axis will improve.
The French National Railway Company (SNCF) announced on Friday evening that on Saturday, at the start of the many holidaymakers, “TGV traffic had improved” thanks to “the extraordinary mobilisation of thousands of railway workers, including more than a hundred maintenance workers”.
SNCF stressed that it would ensure “all teams and accredited transport”.
During the night between Thursday and Friday, the optical cables that pass near the tracks and ensure the transmission of driver safety information (red lights, switches, etc.) were cut and set on fire at different points in the network.
A source close to the investigation said it was a “well-prepared” operation organised by the “same agency”. A source familiar with the matter said no claims had been received.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into property damage that could harm the fundamental interests of the state, and the sabotage of automated data processing systems by organized gangs and criminal groups.
According to another source familiar with the matter, the investigation involves more than 50 gendarmerie investigators. The same source said that samples taken at different locations have been sent to experts at the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) for urgent analysis.
-“sad”-
The attack, which took place just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, when many travelers were scheduled to travel to the capital, caused huge chaos at the station early Friday morning, between incomprehension and the D system.
“The worst affected today are the 800,000 travelers expected to return to their holiday destinations this weekend. This is a more important holiday crossover event than the Olympics,” said Patrice Vergriete, deputy to the transport minister, on Friday.
According to Bison Futé, the roads were also very congested on Friday due to the intersections during the last weekend of July.
“We almost cancelled our flights, but tickets for tomorrow are either too expensive or unavailable, so we’d rather wait,” said Ian Daniel and Simon Daniel, 20 and 23, two Dutch brothers who were due to travel to Bordeaux on Friday afternoon.
Special circumstances required that, at stations, SNCF agents show flexibility by allowing more people in than there were seats on the train, or by not checking tickets.
The arson attacks affected signal boxes at Courtalain (LGV Atlantique), Croisilles (LGV Nord) and Pagny-Sur-Moselle (LGV Est).
However, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou said that rail workers carrying out maintenance operations at night in Vergigny (Yonne) had thwarted a malicious act on the LGV Sud-Est.
Last year in January 2023, a similar vandalism incident occurred at the German LGV Est.
At the site, rail workers were mobilised to restore the facility, a difficult and demanding job as hundreds of cables needed to be replaced and inspected.
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