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 Aanslagen op Franse spoorwegen infographic
Graphic shows train routes disrupted by attacks ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
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TRANSPORT

Franse spoorwegen verstoord door sabotage

By Duncan Mil

July 26, 2024 - France’s high-speed train network was targeted by multiple acts, including arson, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of people ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

The French state railway company SNCF called the overnight disruption a “massive attack aimed at paralyzing the high-speed line network.”

In a post on X, SNCF said, “a large number of trains were diverted or canceled” and asked all travellers who could postpone their trip and not go to the station to do so.

SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou told a press conference on Friday that cables -- which are there to ensure the security of train drivers -- were set on fire and taken apart but that authorities “don’t know who is behind it.”

It was “a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack” that indicates “a desire to seriously harm” the French people, Farandou said.

The disruptions hit Paris’ Montparnasse and Gare du Nord stations particularly hard.

SNCF feared disruptions would continue “at least all weekend.”

Sources
PUBLISHED: 26/07/2024; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Adobe stock, Markus Mainka
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