French
rail network hit by arson attacks before Olympics opening ceremony
‘Massive’
coordinated attacks on TGV bring severe disruption to France’s busiest rail
lines
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Fri 26 Jul 2024 10.42 CEST
France’s high-speed rail network has been hit by coordinated
“malicious acts” including arson attacks that have brought major disruption to
many of the country’s busiest rail lines hours before the Paris Olympics
opening ceremony.
The state-owned railway operator, SNCF, said arsonists had
targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with the country’s
west, north and east and that traffic would be severely disrupted across the
country during the weekend.
“This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the
TGV network,” the SNCF told Agence France-Presse, adding that many routes would
have to be cancelled and the situation would last “at least all weekend while
repairs are conducted”.
The national train operator said it had been “the victim of
several simultaneous malicious acts overnight”, adding that the attacks
affected its Atlantic, northern and eastern lines. Crucial cables had been cut
and burned.
“Arson attacks were started in order to damage our
facilities,” the SNCF said, adding that traffic on the affected lines was
“heavily disrupted”. A further attack was averted on the south-eastern line,
French media reported.
The travel plans of about 800,000 French holiday-makers will
be disrupted this weekend. Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the SNCF, said it
was a “sad day” because families would be the worst affected by what he said
were attacks by “irresponsible cranks”.
The attacks appeared to have been planned and carefully
targeted at strategic points on the rail network.
The sports minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, condemned the
vandalism. “It’s completely appalling,” she told BFMTV. “To target the games is
to target France.”
The transport minister, Patrice Vergriete, said there had
been “coordinated malicious acts” during the night against several lines. He
condemned what he called “criminal actions” that would “compromise many French
people’s departure on holiday”.
French holidaymakers who were intending to travel on what is
one of the major departure weekends of the summer holidays are expected to be
the hardest hit by the incidents.
Several Olympic fixtures, including football matches, will
be taking place in locations outside Paris, including Nantes and Bordeaux,
which are connected to Paris by major rail lines.
Crowds of passengers were stranded at stations, including
the Gare Montparnasse in Paris, after their trains were cancelled.
The prefect in charge of Paris policing, Laurent Nuñez, said
more police were being diverted to stations in Paris on Friday because large
numbers of people were gathered there.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
arson.
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