SNCF: French high-speed trains disrupted by ‘coordinated sabotage’ ahead of Paris Olympics opening ceremony

Paris
CNN
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France’s high-speed train lines were hit by multiple “malicious” acts including arson on Friday, in what was described as an “attack on France.” “coordinated sabotage” to disrupt travel before the opening ceremony Paris Olympics.

French state rail company SNCF said in a post on Twitter that “a large number of trains have been diverted or cancelled,” and asked “all travellers who are able to do so to postpone their journey and not go to the station.” By Friday afternoon, its services had partially resumed, although widespread disruptions continued.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but given their scope and precision, they are clearly more than just random acts of vandalism.

An intelligence source told CNN that French intelligence services are “fully mobilized” to find those responsible. The source added that “these methods have been used by the far left in the past” but that “there is no evidence linking today’s actions.”

The operator of the Atlantic, Nord-East and Nord-East express lines said the outage affected a number of its facilities, adding that one attempt was “thwarted” in the east after its customers scared several people. The Atlantic line serves western and southwestern France from Paris, the northern line carries passengers from the French capital to Lille and the eastern line carries passengers from Paris to Strasbourg.

The cables – there to ensure the safety of train drivers – were set on fire and dismantled but authorities “don’t know who is behind it,” SNCF chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou told reporters on Friday.

But someone with “very precise information” is likely behind the attack, according to Axel Persson, a leader of the CGT rail union.

He told CNN that a railroad worker or industrial espionage could have been the cause, but he also confirmed that thanks to railroad workers one of the attacks was thwarted.

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The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the attack and has laid out four separate charges of destruction of state property and involvement in organized crime. Some of the crimes are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros ($325,000). Outgoing French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Friday afternoon he was unaware of any arrests so far.

After emergency repairs, most trains on the eastern network were running with delays of about an hour by Friday afternoon, but only a third of trains were running on the Atlantic side, Franck Dubourdieu, regional director of SNCF, told a news conference.

The company added that the disruptions – which it estimated could affect about 250,000 passengers today – were expected throughout the weekend, affecting 800,000 passengers, while crews supervised repairs.

Passengers gathered outside Paris’ Gare du Nord train station and sat with their luggage on the stairs as the disruption disrupted their travel plans. Françoise, 80, from La Rochelle, was trying to get home and rejoin her nurse after medical treatment in Paris.

She told CNN she was preparing to wait another five hours in hopes of catching the train. “We didn’t need a day like this!” she added.

Meanwhile, a couple stuck in Montparnasse station had to watch their friends’ wedding over the phone on Friday. Alexandre and Camille had hoped to make it to the western city of Poitiers for the civil ceremony, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV, but watched via video call because they couldn’t afford to rent a car. Alexandre added that they would be able to get to Poitiers for the secular ceremony over the weekend.

“I don’t know where to go. I just came here to change trains. I’m trying to call my friends to see where I can sleep tonight… We are trapped here,” Marguerite, a 24-year-old university professor, told CNN at Montparnasse station as she tried to return home to Brittany, northwestern France.

Two trains carrying Olympic athletes were also affected. “Of the four Olympic trains, only two were able to operate, one was cancelled and a third is being prepared,” Dubourdieu told reporters.

The repair work is supposed to take at least a day, but it could take longer on the Atlantic line, where the company is trying to source cables from all over France, Dubourdieu said.

Varando explained that they have to reassemble the damaged cables one by one, reconnect them and test them. “It’s a safety issue. We have to make sure that they are tested so that they are safe when the trains start running again,” he said.

Eurostar, the high-speed train service linking the UK to France, has said it has cancelled a quarter of its flights this week due to “coordinated malicious activity” on French lines. The company said in a statement it was urging customers to postpone their journeys if possible.

The incidents come just hours before the Olympic torch relay ends and the opening ceremony begins, with more than 320,000 spectators expected A Paris 2024 spokesperson told CNN the opening ceremony will go ahead as planned, and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told reporters he has “full confidence” in French authorities and the security protocols already in place.

Speaking to BFMTV, Oudea Castera condemned the attacks “in the strongest possible terms”, saying they were “truly appalling”.

The disruption of train lines is “a form of coordinated sabotage,” said French Minister of Sport, Olympics and Paralympics Amelie Oudea-Castera.

“We will assess the impacts on travellers and athletes and ensure appropriate transport for all delegations to competition sites,” she said.

Other French officials agreed that the attacks were deliberate. Attal said the incidents were “planned and organised” in a way that “showed a kind of knowledge of the network in order to know where to hit,” while SNCF described the disruption as “an attack on France.”

In response to the attacks, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said on Friday that police were working to boost security and focus manpower on train stations in the capital.

Security measures in Paris have already been stepped up in recent weeks.

France plans to deploy about 35,000 police officers daily during the Games, with the number rising to 45,000 at the opening ceremony, according to a French Interior Ministry spokesman. She told CNN earlier,In addition, 10,000 soldiers will be deployed in the Paris region, an effort supported by 1,800 police officers from around the world, they added.

Nicolas Nordmann, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of security, recently told CNN that authorities had been working for months to try to anticipate what might happen and were confident the concert would be safe.

Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said that intelligence agencies from other countries are also involved in securing the Games.

“The French authorities are assisted by 180 other intelligence services around the world. Not only through information, but some of them also deploy their human resources, so we have good reason to have full confidence,” he added.

France has seen increasing domestic unrest, partly due to recent national elections that saw a battle between the left and the far right.

Interior Minister Darmanin confirmed that security forces arrested a “member of the extreme right” this week “suspected of wanting to commit a violent act during the Olympic Games.” According to Darmanin, the man had “the intention of interfering during a stage of the torch relay.”

Meanwhile, France was among several European countries hit by a wave of attacks that officials have linked to Russia. The attacks included arson and acts of sabotage against infrastructure. Russia has not responded to the allegations.

Earlier this week, French authorities arrested a Russian citizen in Paris, accusing him of preparing destabilizing events during the Olympics. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had no information about the arrest.

This is a developing story and will be updated.