(Paris) Rail traffic remained disrupted on Saturday morning in France on the North, West and South-West routes, the day after acts of sabotage against the high-speed network before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, for which no one claimed responsibility.
If the situation improves, train traffic will remain disrupted on Saturday. On average, seven out of 10 TGVs will run on the North, Brittany (West of the country) and South-West routes, with average delays of 1 to 2 hours, announced the national railway company, SNCF, on Saturday morning.
Traffic will still be disrupted on Sunday “on the North axis” but it “should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns”, she specified.
Traffic has resumed normally on the high-speed line towards the east of the country, and “all team and accredited transport” for the Games will be assured, according to the SNCF.
PHOTO ABDESSLAM MIRDASS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
This photograph shows departure boards announcing delays to train services at Strasbourg station on 26 July.
On the night of Thursday to Friday, a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, fiber optic cables running near the tracks and ensuring the transmission of safety information for drivers (red lights, points, etc.) were cut and set on fire at various locations on the network.
A “well-prepared” operation, organized by the “same structure”, according to a source close to the investigation. For the moment, no claims have been received.
These coordinated acts of sabotage occurred as many travellers planned to travel to the capital to attend the opening of the Games, while others were leaving for or returning from their summer holidays.
They caused massive chaos in train stations on Friday, with the SNCF estimating that the journeys of 800,000 passengers expected over the weekend would be affected.
However, the agents of the national railway company “worked all night in difficult conditions in the rain to allow an improvement in the circulation” of high-speed trains “on the routes affected by the acts of sabotage” and a return to normal as quickly as possible, she explained on Saturday morning.
PHOTO THIBAUD MORITZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Employees of the SNCF railway company address passengers waiting for their train to depart at the Montparnasse train station in Paris on July 26.
Despite these efforts, the journey is going to be difficult for Kathleen Cuvellier, who is getting ready to board a train to Paris from Lille station (North). For her two-year-old son and her little bichon, “it’s going to be hell”. They are going on holiday to Avignon (South-East). “I was on a 4-hour journey and it’s going to take me 7 hours,” she sums up.
Due to the exceptional situation, SNCF agents at the station have shown flexibility, letting more people on trains than there are seats or refraining from checking tickets.
An investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office for “damage to property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the Nation” in particular. Investigations that mobilize more than 50 investigators from the gendarmerie.