French railway company SNCF warned that disruptions to the country’s train network on Friday could continue until the end of the weekend and affect hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Coordinated arson attacks on three lines of the high-speed TGV network caused chaos for travelers on Friday, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. A fourth attack was thwarted by railroad workers.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the attack as an “act of vandalism”.
Around a quarter of international Eurostar trains have also been cancelled, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer also affected.
Traffic on the affected lines “will improve” on Saturday thanks to the efforts of thousands of rail workers, SNCF said in a statement late Friday.
it says:
- East Line trains will run normally from 06:00 (05:00 BST) on Saturday
- 80% of trains on the Northern Line are running normally, with delays of 1-2 hours
- 60% of trains on Southwest Line are running, 1-2 hours delayed
Passengers whose trains are delayed or canceled will be contacted via email or text message, the company added.
Eurostar said it expected around a fifth of its services to be canceled over the weekend, with all trains facing delays of around 1.5 hours. Eurostar services use the Northern High Speed line.
SNCF said it had used 1,000 staff and 50 drones to increase surveillance of the rail network “on land and in the air”.
Junior Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said about 250,000 people were affected on Friday, while up to 800,000 people could face delays and cancellations by Monday.
He added that the vandals were most likely aiming to disrupt holiday travel rather than Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony.
He said in an interview that there is “no necessary connection” with the Olympics.
The last weekend in July is traditionally a busy time for holiday travel.
No group has yet claimed to be behind these attacks. A source involved in the investigation told AFP the operation was “well prepared” and organized by a “single agency”.
Attar said security forces were searching for those responsible.
Government officials said that at around 04:00 on Friday, vandals cut and set fire to specialized fiber optic cables that are vital to the safe operation of the rail network.
One of the sites is in Courtalan, 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of Paris. A photo posted online purportedly shows cables burned in a shallow ditch and their protective SNCF paving stones discarded.
SNCF said a “large-scale attack aimed at paralyzing its services” had occurred not only in Courtalan but also in the eastern Moselle village of Metz and Croisile , not far from the northern city of Arras.
Another attempted attack was foiled in the early hours of Friday by SNCF workers carrying out repairs in Verrigny, southeast of Paris.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into attacks on “fundamental national interests”.
