Three out of ten high-speed trains in France will be canceled on Saturday due to a series of coordinated arson attacks.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that security forces are still searching for the vandals who caused the rail networks to shut down just before the opening of the Olympic Games.
The national rail company, SNCF, said that trains running on Saturday will be delayed by up to two hours on major routes in and out of Paris.
A quarter of Eurostar services will also be canceled. France’s transport minister expects train services to return to normal by Monday morning.
SNCF workers spent the night repairing damaged cables. The company estimated that around 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday, and junior transport minister Patrice Vergriete said up to 800,000 could be impacted over three days.
Eurostar, which runs international trains from London to Paris, said one in four of its trains won’t run over the weekend. Travelers are advised to postpone their trips until after Monday.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those affected. He had planned to travel to the Olympic opening ceremony by train but had to fly instead.
He told the BBC that the travel disruption was very frustrating and made travel harder for many people.
No group has claimed responsibility for the damage. SNCF said its staff worked through the night in the rain to fix the damage. The vandals set fire to important cables at junctions on the North, Brittany, and South-West lines just hours before the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.
They also cut specialized fiber optic cables necessary for the safe operation of the rail network. Officials believe the attacks were well-prepared and organized by a single group. Rail workers managed to prevent an attempt to destroy safety equipment on a fourth line.
According to a rail network spokesman, train traffic will still be disrupted on the North axis on Sunday but should improve on the Atlantic axis for the weekend returns.
For more information, you can refer to the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy08dp4kl9mo