SNCF suffered a “massive attack of scale to paralyze” its TGV network on the night of Thursday to Friday, the group told AFP on Friday, July 26, the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and the eve of a holiday weekend. The railway company “was the victim of several simultaneous malicious acts last night affecting the LGV Atlantique, Nord and Est”, it said in a statement, specifying that “deliberate fires were started to damage (its) installations”. A source close to the case, interviewed by AFP, spoke of acts of “sabotage”.
As a result, TGV traffic on these three routes is “very disrupted”. “We are diverting some trains on the classic line but we will have to cancel a large number of them”, stated the SNCF. On the other hand, the TGV Sud-Est line is “not affected”, specified the group. SNCF Réseau teams “are already on site to carry out the diagnosis and begin repairs”, but this “situation should last at least all weekend while the repairs are carried out”, indicated the operator.
“All customers will be informed by SMS of the running of their trains,” the group told AFP. The operator advises “all travelers to postpone their trip and not go to the station,” specifying in its press release that all tickets are exchangeable and refundable. Nearly 800,000 travelers are affected. At Montparnasse, major delays on a number of TGV trains have been announced, particularly on the high-speed Atlantic line to Tours and Le Mans, “due to acts of vandalism in Courtalain,” noted an AFP journalist.
“Coordinated malicious acts”
The Minister of Transport will speak about the situation from the Gare du Nord. But Patrice Vergriete has already denounced on X “coordinated malicious acts”. He “strongly condemns these criminal actions which will compromise the departures on holiday of many French people”, and thanks “the SNCF teams, on deck to restore traffic conditions as quickly as possible”.
On the air side, no disruption was expected, indicated the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). This attack occurs just a few hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when many travelers are planning to converge on the capital. A large number of vacationers are also in transit.