The SNCF “was the victim tonight of several simultaneous malicious acts affecting the Atlantic, North and East high-speed lines,” the railway group said in a statement, adding that “deliberate fires were started to damage the railway lines.” [sus] facilities”.
Although repairs to the sabotaged cables have already begun, authorities have said they do not expect transport to return to normal until next week. “All customers will be informed by SMS of the running of their trains,” SNCF told Agence France-Presse.
In this context, the French Prime Minister Gabriel Attalnoted that both intelligence services and national security forces were mobilized “to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”
The attack, which affected one of the main means of transport, occurred hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. “These are the Games of the athletes, who have been dreaming of them for years and who have been fighting for the milestone of reaching those podiums, and you are going to sabotage that for them!” reacted the Minister of Sport, Amélie Oudéa-Castera.
High-speed trains affected over the weekend
The circulation of high-speed trains (TGV, for its acronym in French) on these three axes was seen “very upset”a situation that they claim will last “at least the whole weekend.” In contrast, the high-speed line in the southeast did not present any problems.
The SNCF warned that no train would depart from the Montparnasse station, Pariswhich connects the capital with the west and southwest of France at least until after midday. While in the North and East axesthe convoys circulated with between an hour and a half and two hours late.
paris train station.JPG
REUTERS
Several trains between Paris and London were also “cancelled” Eurostar announced on its website on Friday that journeys could take “around an hour and a half” longer due to the trains being delayed. will circulate on “classic” linesand not for high-speed ones.
He Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergrietedenounced a “scandalous criminal act” that will have “serious consequences” on rail traffic, with one train in two heading to the north, the east and Brittany (in the west of the country) and one train in four heading to the Bordeaux region, in the southwest.
Source: Ambito
