French railway company SNCF has warned that disruption caused by Friday’s sabotage of the country’s train network could last until the end of the weekend and affect hundreds of thousands more passengers.
Coordinated arson attacks on three lines of the TGV high-speed network caused chaos for travellers on Friday, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. A fourth attack was thwarted by railway staff.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the attacks as “sabotage”.
Around a quarter of international Eurostar trains were also cancelled. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also affected.
SNCF said in a statement on Friday evening that traffic on the affected lines “will improve” on Saturday thanks to the efforts of thousands of railway workers.
It said:
-
On the Eastern Line, trains run normally from 06:00 (05:00 BST) on Saturdays
-
On the northern line, 80% of trains would run, with delays of 1-2 hours
-
On the southwestern line, 60% of trains would run, with delays of 1-2 hours
The company added that customers whose train is delayed or cancelled will be notified by email or text message.
Eurostar said it expected around a fifth of services to be cancelled over the weekend, with all trains expected to experience delays of around 1.5 hours. Eurostar services use the Northern High Speed Line.
SNCF reported that surveillance of the rail network “on land and in the air” has been stepped up with the help of 1,000 employees and 50 drones.
According to State Secretary of Transport Patrice Vergriete, some 250,000 people were affected on Friday, while 800,000 people could face delays and cancellations on Monday.
He added that it is more likely that the saboteurs wanted to disrupt holiday traffic, and not the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday.
“There is not necessarily a link” with the Olympics, he said in an interview.
Friday July 26th is traditionally the start of the large room (big holiday) for many French holidaymakers leaving the cities.
No group has yet claimed to be behind the attacks. A source linked to the investigation told AFP the operation was “well prepared” and organized by “a single structure.”
According to Mr Attal, the security forces are looking for those responsible.
At around 4 a.m. on Friday, saboteurs cut and set fire to fiber optic cables that are essential to the safe operation of the rail network, government officials said.
One location was in Courtalain, 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Paris. A photo posted online reportedly showed downed cables in a shallow trench with the protective SNCF paving stones thrown away.
The SNCF spoke of a “huge, large-scale attack aimed at paralysing” its services, not only at Courtalain but also at Pagny-sur-Moselle, a village outside the eastern city of Metz and Croisilles, not far from the northern city of Arras.
Another attempted attack in Vergigny, southeast of Paris, was foiled by SNCF workers carrying out maintenance work on the construction site early on Friday morning.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into attacks on “the fundamental interests of the nation”.
