Rail services across France should improve on Sunday, particularly on the Atlantic line, following acts of sabotage carried out on Friday.
Repairs on the Atlantic line, which serves the west and southwest regions, as well as Brittany, will be completed on Sunday so that 90% of high-speed trains (TGVs) will operate by Sunday afternoon, the French national railway company SNCF stated. Service on the East line has already resumed as normal.
However, the high-speed North line has sustained “greater damage,” limiting services to 7 in 10 trains running on Sunday with delays of 1 to 2 hours.
It is predominantly holidaymakers who are affected by these disruptions, as the SNCF has already given assurances that all transport for Olympic teams and accredited individuals will be prioritised.
“All will be restored by Monday morning,” Jean-Pierre Farandou – CEO of SNCF – said at a press briefing in Montparnasse station, Paris. Also speaking at the Montparnasse briefing on Saturday, French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete specified that eight in ten of the 800,000 ticket holders this weekend “will be able to travel”.
Who's behind the attack?
The sabotage took place on Thursday night, targeting optic fibre cables near the tracks that carry safety communications to drivers (red signals, switches…). These were severed and burnt at various network locations.
Investigators have called the act a “well-prepared” operation, organised by the “same structure” in locations across France. It happened just before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games when passenger numbers were at peak levels. Significant chaos ensued in train stations on Friday morning.
An email supporting the sabotages was received by several media outlets on Saturday. The unauthored message defended the damage and criticised the Paris Olympics. Sources close to the case say it used rhetoric typical of ultra-left-wing anarchist activists.
"They call this a celebration? We perceive it as a celebration of nationalism, an enormous staging of state domination over people", the message states.
