The acts of sabotage that affected high-speed rail lines in France this Friday (26), and which will impact thousands of people on the opening day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, were well prepared and demonstrate good knowledge of the network, said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
Speaking to the press at the crisis unit that was set up at the Ministry of Transport, Attal said that “what is clear is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that nerve centers were attacked, which shows a way of knowing the network in order to attack it”.
Furthermore, he reiterated the impact, “which is enormous for our citizens”, and regretted the “determination” of the authors to “block hundreds of thousands of people” and to do so “deliberately”.
The attacks took place between 1:00 and 5:30 in the morning and consisted of setting fire to signalling installations on high-speed train (TGV) lines.
The acts of sabotage affected three of the four TGV routes leaving Paris: the North (which connects the French capital, for example, with London, Brussels, the Netherlands and northern Germany), the East and the Atlantic.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office is centralizing the investigation that has been opened into four crimes and which is being managed, in addition to the usual law enforcement agencies, by the secret services.
The French National Railways Company (SNCF) will present a new transport plan this afternoon to offer alternatives to the 250,000 people it estimates have already been affected by the disruptions and which could reach 800,000 if the problems continue over the weekend.
All this happened just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, which completely disrupted the normal functioning of the city, as the center is isolated, awaiting the presence of around 600,000 spectators in total, and circulation is almost suspended.
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