France suffered an organized attack on Friday against the high-speed train network around Pariswhich has created serious traffic problems and which takes place on the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
The president of the Paris region, Valerie Pecressedenounced “an attempt to destabilise France” on a key day for the country, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
The attacks consisted of coordinated fires set in power cable ducts for signalling and communications.
The French national railway company (SNCF) has announced a “massive attack” aimed at paralysing its high-speed train network (TGV) and affecting three of the four lines in Paris, with approximately 800,000 passengers affected in the coming days.
Traffic problems will continue at least throughout the weekend, and will occur not only on the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, but also on special days for people leaving and arriving after holidays.
The affected lines, with delays and suspensions, are those of the northern axes (which also include the TGVs to London, Brussels, Amsterdam y Germany), west (Brittany, Bordeaux) and this (Strasbourg, Frankfurt).
The Nord, Est and Montparnasse stations have been particularly affected, with thousands of passengers stuck since morning.
The fourth TGV axis of Paris, the south-east (Lyon, Marseille), was saved because an attempt at sabotage against the line “was thwarted,” the SNCF said.
Pécresse explained that on this fourth line the guards put the saboteurs to flight.
The regional president said that 250,000 passengers were affected today alone, and she asked people not to go to train stations unless they receive messages from the SNCF.
The choice of the locations where the fires took place suggests that the perpetrators, in addition to being coordinated, have technical knowledge.
The Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergrietedescribed the events as “a scandalous criminal act” and highlighted the “coordination” of the fires, which occurred approximately “at the same time,” around 04:00 today (02:00 GMT), with incendiary devices and with the perpetrators fleeing in vans.
SNCF President, Jean Pierre Farandouconsidered the sabotage as “an attack on France and the French”, in a joint appearance to the press with the minister.
Farandou said the repair work was very delicate, as the fires affected pipelines with up to 500 electrical and fiber optic cables.
“Cable by cable, it is almost a goldsmith’s job,” explained a senior company official at the event.
The prefect of Paris, Laurent Nunezannounced the dispatch of police reinforcements to the main stations in the capital to guarantee the safety of passengers and facilities. EFE (I)
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