French rail company SNCF has warned that disruption caused by Friday’s sabotage of the country’s rail network could last until the end of the week and affect hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Co-ordinated arson attacks on three lines of the high-speed TGV network on Friday caused chaos for passengers, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. A fourth attack was foiled by rail workers.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the attacks as “acts of vandalism”.
About a quarter of international Eurostar trains were also cancelled, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In a statement released on Friday evening, SNCF said traffic “will improve” on affected lines on Saturday thanks to the efforts of thousands of rail workers.
It says:
- On the eastern line, trains will run as normal from 06:00 (05:00 BST) on Saturday
- On the northern line, 80% of trains will run, with delays of 1-2 hours.
- On the southwest line, 60% of trains will run, with delays of 1-2 hours.
The company added that passengers whose trains are delayed or cancelled will be contacted by email or text message.
Eurostar said it expected about a fifth of its services over the weekend to be cancelled, while all trains would face delays of about 1.5 hours. Eurostar services use the northern high-speed route.
SNCF said surveillance of the rail network had been stepped up “on land and in the air”, using 1,000 workers and 50 drones.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said around 250,000 people were affected on Friday, while up to 800,000 people could face delays and cancellations on Monday.
He added that the vandals’ most likely target was to disrupt tourism during the holiday season, not the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday.
“There is not necessarily a connection” to the Olympics, he said in an interview.
The last weekend of July is traditionally a busy time for holiday travel.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. A source close to the investigation told AFP the operation was “well-prepared” and organised by “a single structure”.
Security forces are searching for those responsible, Mr Attal said.
At around 4am on Friday, vandals cut and burned specialised fibre optic cables essential to the safe operation of the rail network, government officials said.
A site in Courtalain, 150km (93 miles) southwest of Paris. A photo posted online shows burnt cables in a shallow trench with discarded protective SNCF paving stones.
SNCF spoke of a “massive, large-scale attack aimed at paralysing” its services, not only in Courtalain but also in Pagny-sur-Moselle, a village outside Metz, and Croisilles to the east, not far from the city of Arras to the north.
Another attack plot in Vergigny, southeast of Paris, was foiled by SNCF staff while they were doing maintenance on site early on Friday morning.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into attacks on “fundamental national interests”.
