Train services expected to return to normal on Monday morning after attack on TGV network
The CEO of French railway operator SNCF expects services to return to normal by Monday morning, following a series of attacks on the network on Thursday night.
“We will be ready and we hope to make a very decent return from the weekend,” Jean-Pierre Farandou told a press briefing at Montparnasse station in Paris on Saturday. Transport minister Patrice Vergriete said that 80 per cent of the 800,000 people with tickets for the weekend would be able to travel, after SNCF staff “worked throughout the night in difficult conditions”.
At stations, passengers were fairly calm on Saturday morning. The TGVs that left travelled at reduced speeds for part of the journey and their late arrival delayed subsequent departures.
"We have recovered a number of items that lead us to believe we will know fairly quickly who was responsible"
During the night of Thursday to Friday, fibre optic cables running close to the tracks that ensure the transmission of safety information for drivers were cut and set on fire at various places. It was a well-prepared operation, according to a source close to the investigation opened by the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
“We have recovered a number of items that lead us to believe we will know fairly quickly who was responsible for what was clearly not sabotaging the Olympic Games, but sabotaging part of the French people’s holiday,” Interior minister Gérald Darmanin told broadcaster France 2 on Saturday.
The attack came shortly before the opening ceremony of the Olympics, just as many passengers were planning to travel to the capital or leave on holiday, causing major chaos at stations on Friday morning.
Passengers waiting at Montparnasse station in Paris on 26 July, following the sabotage of the TGV network © PHOTO CLAIRE SERIE / HANS LUCAS / AFP
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