Vandals target France railway as Games begin
2 min read
France’s high-speed TGV network are under Vandals targeted with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption to some of the country’s busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
The state-owned railway operator said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines that are connecting Paris with other cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in west as well as Strasbourg in the east.
The state has informed all the travellers to postpone their journeys. The process of repairing were underway but traffic would be severely disrupted until at least the end of the weekend. Trains were being sent back to their points of departures.
The SNCF released a statement that confirms they experienced the several acts of vandalism on the part of the train stations. SNCF said “Last night, the SNCF was victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines. Fires were deliberately set to damage our installations.”
The coordinated strikes on the rail network will feed into a sense of apprehension ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in the heart of Paris later on Friday. France is rolling out an unprecedented peacetime security operation to secure the event, with more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents deployed. Snipers will be on rooftops and drones keeping watch from the air.
There was immediate claim of responsibility and they are no indication of whether the action was politically related or not. Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described the acts as criminal. The Paris police chief said he was beefing up security yet further at the capital’s main stations.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera condemned the vandalism by saying if you target the games that means you are the Enemy of the Nation. Oudea-Castera said “It’s completely appalling, To target the games is to target France.”
At the Gare de L’Est, traveller Corinne Lecocq said her train to Strasbourg on the border with Germany had been cancelled. Lecocq said “We’ll take the slow line, I’m on holiday so it’s OK, even if it is irritating to be late.”
The chief of the Games cancelled a news conference discussing opening ceremony plans abruptly before it was due to start. There has been no comment from the Olympic committee about the trainlines. They are some other games that has just started at Paris Olympics such as Sevens Nations and Women Soccer.
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
