SNCF sabotage: you have to take a train this Sunday ? Good news for rail traffic

SNCF train traffic should improve this Sunday, July 28, 2024, particularly on the Atlantic line, two days after a series of acts of sabotage against the TGV network that are the subject of a judicial investigation.

The repair work on the Atlantic line (Brittany, west and southwest) should be completed on Sunday and 9 out of 10 TGVs will be able to run there from midday, SNCF said on Saturday afternoon.

On the high-speed North line, however, the damage required "larger repairs" and traffic will remain limited on Sunday, with 7 trains out of 10 and delays of 1 to 2 hours.

Full recovery Monday morning

While holidaymakers are the first to be affected by these disruptions, "all public transport teams and accredited" for the Olympic Games will be insured, indicated the SNCF.

&amp “Everything will be restored on Monday morning” on the network, assured the CEO of SNCF on Saturday, Jean-Pierre Farandou, during a press briefing at the Montparnasse train station in Paris. Traffic has already resumed on the East line.

Present At his side, the Minister Delegate for Transport Patrice Vergriete specified that 8 out of 10 people "will be able to travel" of the 800,000 ticket holders for this weekend.

“A hundred agents were mobilized in difficult weather conditions” to restore the network during the night from Friday to Saturday, the minister said.

“In time for our connection”

In the stations, travelers were rather calm on Saturday. “People have informed themselves”, explained an SNCF operator.

“I remind you that we have suffered an act of malice (…) Delays and cancellations (of trains, Editor's note) are to be expected”, regularly warned an operator at Montparnasse station.

“It's an achievement! Yesterday (Friday) morning, we broke the puzzle. We have to rebuild the team of each train”, stressed Nicolas Mely, from SNCF Voyageurs.

The TGVs that left on Saturday ran slowly on part of the journey and their late arrival delayed the next departures.

“Before coming, we saw that the train was on time, but in the end we will be 25 minutes behind schedule. It will be two hours late in Quimper, arriving at 4:14 p.m.", reported Tifenn Oulc'hen, 35, on her way to the holidays with her 18-month-old son, Ehouarn.

"It brings back memories, when it took us 5 hours and 30 minutes to get to Brittany", before the high-speed lines, recalled her husband Gwénolé, 42. "We still have the impression that they hurried to put everything back in order order”, he noted.

The connecting passengers were more worried. In Bordeaux, Bruno Cévalier and Pauline Favard had to get to Lille station as soon as possible to watch the basketball events at the Olympics.

“We hope we'll arrive in time to catch our connection in Paris. The tests, they, will not wait for us, but we will get there", they said while running towards the ticket inspector.

During the night of Thursday to Friday, fiber optic cables passing near the tracks and guaranteeing the transmission of safety information for drivers (red lights, points, etc.) were cut and set on fire at various locations on the network.

A "well-prepared" operation, organized by a"same structure", according to a source close to the investigation.

The Olympic Games “not sabotaged” 

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into damage to property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the Nation, attacks on an automated data processing system by an organized gang and criminal association.

“We have recovered a certain number of elements that allow us to believe that we will know fairly quickly who is responsible for what clearly did not sabotage the Olympic Games, but which sabotaged part of the holidays of the French", said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on France 2 on Saturday.

The investigations are mobilizing more than fifty investigators from the gendarmerie, said the Minister of Transport.

Samples taken from the various locations were sent to experts from the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) for urgent analysis, added a source close to the case.

The sabotage occurred just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, when many travelers had planned to reach the capital, causing huge chaos in the train stations on Friday morning morning.