This Friday, hours before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games, Paris experienced one of the most chaotic moments that could be expected. A train sabotage was confirmed by the authorities.
Train sabotage at the Olympic Games
The French railway company SNCF assured that it will guarantee the transport of all the teams participating in the Olympic Games as well as the accredited people despite the sabotage it suffered this Friday in three of the four major corridors of the high-speed trains (TGV).
‼️A large sabotage operation was conducted by unknown assailants against #France’s railway system, effectively bringing the system to a halt and causing 800,000 people to be stuck at train stations all across the country. #French and non-French citizens were trying to reach… pic.twitter.com/6VEbS2h44P
— Kamal Korkees (@KorkeesM) July 26, 2024
In the statement published by the National Society of Railways (SNCF), the main lines of its program for the weekend were made public and it was highlighted that tomorrow it expects “an improvement” in these corridors, thanks to the mobilization of “several thousand” of its employees.
More than a hundred of these workers are working on repairs to signalling systems damaged by fires in attacks that the French government says were “coordinated” and “prepared” and demonstrate the perpetrators’ knowledge of the location of strategic installations.
On the Northern corridor, which runs from Paris to Lille, London, Brussels, the Netherlands and northern Germany, SNCF expects that 80% of the usual TGV trains will be running on Saturday, although they will be delayed by one to two hours, as they will continue to use conventional routes.
On the Eastern corridor, which runs from Paris to Luxembourg and Strasbourg, traffic will resume as normal tomorrow from 6:00 a.m. local time. On the Atlantic corridor, from Paris to Brittany and the south-west (Bordeaux, the Basque Country or Toulouse), two out of three trains will be running, with delays of one to two hours.
Looking ahead to Sunday, the state railway company recognises that there will still be some problems on the Northern corridor and hopes that there will be improvements on the Atlantic corridor for those returning from the weekend. As of mid-morning, the SNCF had estimated that the sabotage would affect some 250,000 people on Saturday, which could reach 800,000 if the situation continued over the weekend.
The sabotage took place this morning just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and during the busiest day for the summer holidays in France.
The French Interior Minister has assured that alternatives have been found for athletes or referees who had to travel by train to attend the ceremony or to take part in competitions at the Games.
