A “massive attack” hit three of the four TGV lines leaving Paris early on Friday, just hours before the start of the Olympic Games. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says the sabotage was well planned and coordinated.
The Minister of Transport of France, Patrice Vergriete has assured that rail traffic “is beginning to resume” after having suffered a “massive attack” on the high-speed train network early this Friday morning just a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.
“Traffic is starting to resume, I would like to thank the SNCF (French National Railway Company) agents who have been very active this morning,” said Vergriete during an interview with TF1, in which he announced that one in three trains should be in operation by this afternoon.
On the other hand, the Parisian mayor, Anne Hidalgohas assured that the incident on the railway network will not have “no impact on the ceremony” the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which will be held tonight in the city centre, because “it has no impact on the transport network”.
SNCF has reported on Friday a “massive attack” on its high-speed train network, affecting three of the capital’s four lines and causing “a large number of trains” to be diverted or even cancelled. The company has asked passengers to postpone their journeys and not go to stations. Today alone, some 250,000 passengers are affected, but it could affect up to 800,000 in the coming days.
“Prepared and coordinated” operation
He sabotage that the high-speed train lines in France suffered this Friday, and which affects hundreds of thousands of people on the opening day of the Olympic Games. well prepared and demonstrates a good knowledge of the networkas stressed by the Prime Minister French, Gabriel Attal.
Speaking to the press from the crisis unit that has been set up in the Ministry of Transport, Attal, in the name of “prudence”, did not want to enter into speculation on the hypothesis that is circulating that it could be the work of a far-left group, taking into account that the investigation has only just begun.
However, he noted that “what is clear is that this operation has been prepared, coordinated, and that key points have been attacked, which shows a way of knowing the network in order to attack it.”
He also stressed that “the impact on our citizens is massive” and that the authors were “determined” to “block hundreds of thousands of people” and to do so “deliberately.”
The attacks took place between 1:00 and 5:30 in the morning and involved setting fire to signalling systems on high-speed train (TGV) lines.
This has affected three of the four TGV axes leaving from Paris: the Northern one (which serves, for example, the Eurostar to London, Brussels, the Netherlands and northern Germany), the Eastern one and the Atlantic one.
The Paris prosecutor’s office is centralising the investigation that has been opened for four crimes, and which is being handled by the secret services, in addition to the usual law enforcement bodies.
SNCF will present a new transport plan this afternoon to offer alternatives to the 250,000 people it estimates have already been affected by the disruption, which could rise to 800,000 if the problems continue over the weekend.
All this has happened just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, which have completely disrupted the normal functioning of the city, as the centre is cordoned off, awaiting the presence of some 600,000 spectators in total, and traffic is almost suspended.
Source: Eitb
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