While investigators seek train saboteurs, rail travel in France starts returning to normal
Paris — France's national rail operator said Saturday train travel was gradually returning to normal after multiple acts of sabotage paralyzed the network.
It remains unclear who carried out the three attacks overnight Thursday into Friday on rail infrastructure and if they were deliberately timed to disrupt the opening ceremony of the Olympics that took place later that day.
Tens of thousands of rail passengers struggled through a second day of canceled and delayed trains Saturday with 160,000 of the 800,000 people due to travel on a major holiday getaway weekend facing cancellations.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said national rail operator SNCF had mobilized a hundred workers overnight to repair the damage "in difficult weather conditions" and ensure a return to normal for Monday.
During the night, "with floodlights, in the rain, they patched up the wires one by one," said SNCF chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou.
"Everything will be repaired by Monday morning" on the SNCF network, he added.
Fiber-optic cables running near the tracks and ensuring the transmission of safety information for drivers, such as signaling lights and points, were cut and set on fire Thursday night on three of the main TGV lines, in the west, north and east of France.
No claim of responsibility has been made for the meticulously planned night-time attacks. Maintenance workers thwarted a fourth attack. However, a message of support for the sabotage was sent to several media outlets Saturday, which also criticized the Olympics.
"They call it a festival? We see it as a celebration of nationalism, a gigantic stating of the subjugation of populations by states," said the email received by the newspaper La Provence.
Although the headline of the message said, "claim to sabotage," no details of the action were provided.
It was signed by "an unexpected delegation" and was sent via the online platform Riseup, whose users include those advocating for social change.
Paris prosecutors Friday opened a probe into an attack on "fundamental national interests."
Observers have noted that the nature of the attacks indicate the culprits would have needed deep knowledge of the functioning of the railways.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the investigation was progressing and expressed relief that the opening ceremony had taken place without any mishap.
"We have uncovered a certain number of elements that allow us to think that we will soon know who is responsible for what clearly did not sabotage the Olympic Games but did sabotage part of the holidays of the French people," Darmanin told France 2 television.
He said it was too early to say who was behind the attack.
French authorities are on high alert for a terrorist attack during the Games, which run through August 11. Tens of thousands of police and troops are on security duties during the Olympics.