There are just a few hours left until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. In a climate of anticipation and emotion, however, the city sank into chaos after the massive attack on the high-speed railway lines, as announced by the SNCF railway company. What happened paralyzed the network, which is now "seriously interrupted".
"Several concomitant acts of arson" hit 3 out of 4 lines of the TGV Atlantic, North and East: "Deliberate fires were set to damage" the systems of the high-speed lines, explained the railway group in a press release. As a result, high-speed train traffic on these three lines is "very disturbed". And in France there is already talk of acts of "sabotage".
Many trains have been diverted to the classic line but cancellations are expected for a large number of them. Sncf Réseau teams are already on site to diagnose the problem and begin repairs, but the situation is expected to last at least until the weekend, until the repairs are completed. However, the TGV South-East line was not affected.
“All customers will be informed via text message about the movement of their trains,” the group told AFP. The operator advises "all travelers to postpone their journey and not go to the stations", specifying in the press release that all tickets are replaceable and refundable.
(Unioneonline/vf)
