France's national rail operator repairs damage caused by saboteurs
Date
7/28/2024 9:50:47 AM
(MENAFN) France's national rail operator, SNCF, announced on Sunday that it had repaired the damage caused by saboteurs that had paralyzed the train network just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Normal train services are set to resume on Monday. Despite the disruption, train traffic on the main line west out of Paris had already returned to "practically normal," and "three out of four" high-speed TGV trains were running on the main line north from the capital without any increased travel times, according to the operator.
The identity of the perpetrators behind the three attacks on strategic points of the rail infrastructure, which occurred overnight from Thursday to Friday, remains unknown. It is also unclear whether these attacks were intentionally timed to disrupt the opening spectacle of the Games later on Friday. The sabotage caused significant inconvenience for tens of thousands of rail passengers who faced two days of canceled and delayed trains. This disruption came at a particularly busy time, as 800,000 travelers were due to leave for their summer holidays on Friday and Saturday.
SNCF credited the "exceptional efforts" of its Network staff, who worked tirelessly since Friday morning to complete the repairs on all affected high-speed rail services. The operator reported that tests on the repaired lines had been successful, and they are now fully operational.
SNCF assured the public that there would be no further disruptions from Monday morning onwards. Despite the extensive and meticulously planned nature of the night-time attacks, no group has claimed responsibility. A fourth planned attack was thwarted by maintenance workers.
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