Passengers Face Challenges as France Continues to Experience Train Delays Due to Sabotage

Paris:

A large number of railway travelers faced challenges for a second consecutive day due to called off trains on Saturday as investigators pursued saboteurs who crippled the network just before the commencement of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

The head of the SNCF rail company, Jean-Pierre Farandou, mentioned that operations would return to normal by Monday. However, officials from the deputy transportation ministry admitted that 160,000 out of the 800,000 individuals scheduled to journey over the weekend were still confronted with cancellations.

Approximately one-third of trains were cancelled in the northern, western, and eastern parts of France. Additionally, about a quarter of Eurostar’s high-speed trains between London and Paris did not depart.

No group has claimed responsibility for the carefully planned nighttime attacks on cabling boxes at intersections to the north, southwest, and east of Paris, just before the inauguration of the Olympics on Friday. Maintenance workers prevented a fourth attack.

However, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stated that the investigation was making progress.

“We have discovered several clues that suggest we will soon identify the culprits of what clearly disrupted the French people’s vacations, but not the Olympic Games,” Darmanin told France 2 television.

French authorities are on high alert for a potential terrorist incident during the Games, which go on until August 11. Numerous police officers and soldiers are currently assigned to Olympic security duties.

According to SNCF, around 250,000 individuals missed their trains on Friday due to the attacks, which dozens of investigators are currently examining.

About 30% of trains were cancelled on Saturday in the three regions affected by the attacks, with most trains that did operate experiencing delays ranging from one to two hours, according to SNCF.

While in the northern city of Lille, Kathleen Cuvellier stated that her trip to Avignon in the south was going to be “nightmarish.”

Cuvellier, accompanied by her two-year-old child, revealed that she now had to board a slow train to Paris and then transfer to another one for Avignon. “The journey was supposed to take four hours, but now it will take seven.”

“There is no alternative,” remarked Cecile Bonnefond, whose trip from Lille to the western city of Nantes was called off.

Services to eastern France have mostly returned to normal. However, disruptions will persist until Sunday in northern France and to the UK and Belgium, while operations to western France are expected to gradually improve, as per SNCF.

The company stated that its employees labored through the night “under challenging circumstances in the rain” to restore the affected routes.

The coordinated attacks, which occurred at 4:00 am early on Friday, severed fiber optic cables situated along the tracks that transmit safety data to train conductors. The attackers also set fire to the cables.

“By Monday morning, everything will be back to normal,” SNCF president Farandou informed journalists at Paris Montparnasse station. “We will be prepared.”

Most travelers at the station remained calm. Nevertheless, they were regularly reminded via loudspeaker announcements that “a malicious act” necessitated train cancellations or delays.