France

Paris Olympics: sabotage at Sncf network. Evacuated and then reopened airport near Strasbourg

The French railway network Sncf was hit by acts of sabotage shortly before the opening of the Paris Olympics. The Basel-Mulhouse airport was evacuated for security reasons. Investigations suggest possible internal complicity within SNCF and the involvement of environmental groups. Repairs could take the whole weekend, causing inconvenience to travellers

26 July 2024

3' min read

The French railway company Sncf suffered a 'massive attack' that paralysed its network just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. "Several concomitant acts of arson have affected 3 out of 4 lines of the Atlantic, North and East Tgv: "deliberate fires were set to damage" the facilities of thehigh-speed lines, the railway group explained in a press release. As a result, high-speed train traffic on these three lines is 'very disrupted'.

In the same hours, the Airport Basel-Mulhouse was evacuated for 'security reasons'. The airport is located near Strasbourg and is on the French-Swiss border. After a blockade of about an hour, air traffic at the airport resumed.

As for the problems on the railway network, a source close to the matter spoke of acts of 'sabotage'. "The methods of operation, especially the arson attacks on certain points of the railway network, resemble those used by the ultra-left in the past," French security sources told Le Parisien. The same sources favour the track of 'ecological protest'. The modus operandi, with incendiary devices, would confirm this. The first elements of the investigation also show a deep knowledge of the railway network, which leads to the assumption of 'internal complicity within Sncf'.

Parigi 2024, caos sulla rete ferroviaria: colpiti 800mila passeggeri

'Sncf has been the victim of several simultaneous acts of arson affecting the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines,' the company said. Currently, the route to the Stade de France, one of the venues of the Olympic Games, is also closed. Repairs are ongoing, Sncf said. However, it added, the disruptions could last throughout the weekend. The Paris Olympics officially start tonight with a spectacle in the middle of the Seine. For the first time in the history of the Summer Games, the opening ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Instead, the more than 200 national delegations will sail down the Seine, through the centre of Paris and past places of interest such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay.

"We are diverting some trains on the classic line, but we will have to cancel a large number of them," the Sncf company said after the attack on three of the four high-speed lines in France with acts of sabotage and fires. Sncf Réseau teams 'are already on site to diagnose the problem and begin repairs', but the 'situation should last at least until the weekend while repairs are carried out', the operator said. The TGV Sud-Est line, on the other hand, 'is not affected', the group said.

Parigi 2024, la capitale francese blindata alla vigilia della cerimonia di apertura delle Olimpiadi

The attack comes just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when many travellers are planning to converge on the capital. A large number of holidaymakers are also in transit. "All customers will be informed by text message about the movement of their trains," the group told Afp. The operator advises "all travellers to postpone their journey and not to go to the stations", specifying in the press release that all tickets are exchangeable and refundable.

Meanwhile, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez announced to France Info that he had 'reinforced the security system' in the stations. The French Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergriete, said that 'all elements indicate that these acts are premeditated' and called the sabotage of high-speed lines 'a scandalous criminal action'. "The coincidence of the times, the trucks found with some people fleeing, especially in the south-east, indications of fires found on the spot...", these are some of the elements of premeditation described by the minister. According to Sncf, 800,000 passengers are involved.

The president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse advised "at this stage all residents of Ile-de-France not to go to the station, to wait for the passenger information that will be sent" by Sncf after the attack on French railway lines. The group is 'working to organise Plan B', he assured.

The sabotage that blocked the Tgv high-speed train network in France a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics was an attack on the 'athletes' Games', said Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera. "These Games are for the athletes who have been dreaming of them for years and fighting for the holy grail of standing on the podium, and someone is sabotaging them," said Oudea-Castera, adding that the Olympics "have been so carefully prepared by hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens for almost 10 years".