French railways falling victim to "massive" sabotage today

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

https://news.sky.com/story/vandals-target-paris-olympics-by-setting-fires-to-damage-high-speed-train-routes-13184855

Also affecting Eurostar - SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) advising people not to travel.

Someone's trying to sabotage the Olympics it would seem.

[Phantom]

I have a horrible feeling that this is just the start of many problems Paris will experience today
Hopefully it goes no further than distruption

[broadgage]

Reports are coming in of "an incident" closing a major airport in France. I have posted re. this in the "buses and other waya to travel forum http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=28943.0

[infoman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news are stating that Croisilles is the location where the live pictures are coming from, which is ten miles south of Arras.

Would the classic route be Calais-Abbeyville-Amiens-Paris,although not sure if it has over head wires though.

Having said that if you can get to Lillle then Paris is approx 140 miles(hire a car?)

[stuving]

The nature of these sabotage attacks is pretty clear - all done at the same time and at main junctions used by TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse). One attack (on the Sud-Est line) was spotted and they escaped, but that no doubt will give a little more evidence. In each case cables have been cut and then set on fire in ducts.

There was something similar done in January last year, and I don't recall hearing who did that. There might be a link, if only as a model to copy.

While there are always diversions on the classic lines, they don't have the capacity for what is one of SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways)'s busiest days. So some trains are running with severe delays, others get cancelled. I'm sure SNCF try to manage this as best they can, but clearly a lot of people who specifically wanted to travel early today will end up being let down.

[1st fan]

A lot of news oulets are reporting Russian links to this, with some naming a Russian with alleged FSB^» (Federation of Small Businesses - about) ties who has been arrested by the French. Someone (and I’ll have to be careful here) told me much earlier in the day that this was the Russians and authorities were concerned that this was only the start of things.

[broadgage]

Russian responsibility sounds likely to me. France is AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know) the only nation to have seriously considered sending troops to help Ukraine remove the russian invaders.

Other possibilities include militant or extreme Islam. Not that likely IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), Such groups tend to prefer more dramatic attacks, such as running amok with large knives or firearms and killing people at random. There have been many such attacks in France and elsewhere, including at least one on a train. 

Or perhaps home grown communist/extreme socialist groups ? Possible but not that likely in my view. I doubt that such groups have the resources and organisation to carry out several simultaneous attacks.

No matter whom is behind these attacks, they are probably pleased with the results and might well carry out repeat attacks, either in France or elsewhere.
Other groups without any connection to these attacks might well be thinking "we could do that"

[TaplowGreen]

...........simply couldn't have happened in 2012, we had it all covered......

[infoman]

Do the media get told to exaggerate the situation?

Okay, 15 London to Paris journeys each set has maximum 750 passengers,

 equates to 11,250 carried each day add Paris to London means 22,500 passengers each day.

Where do they get 800,000  travelers will have their travel plans disrupted?

[TaplowGreen]

Do the media get told to exaggerate the situation?

Okay, 15 London to Paris journeys each set has maximum 750 passengers,

 equates to 11,250 carried each day add Paris to London means 22,500 passengers each day.

Where do they get 800,000  travelers will have their travel plans disrupted?

Er.....because not everyone heading to Paris is going via that specific route?

[broadgage]

And many French families were travelling not to Paris but going on holiday elsewhere in France or further afield, and the quoted figure for disrupted journeys would reasonably include those not DIRECTLY affected but suffering from overcrowding

[TonyK]

And many French families were travelling not to Paris but going on holiday elsewhere in France or further afield, and the quoted figure for disrupted journeys would reasonably include those not DIRECTLY affected but suffering from overcrowding

Exactly. The last Friday in July is traditionally the start of the départ, where Paris changes populations as those who can escape head for the coast. It's a very busy day for road and rail alike.

A lot of news oulets are reporting Russian links to this, with some naming a Russian with alleged FSB^» (Federation of Small Businesses - about) ties who has been arrested by the French. Someone (and I’ll have to be careful here) told me much earlier in the day that this was the Russians and authorities were concerned that this was only the start of things.

Every sparrow that falls in Russia these days is blamed on Ukraine. Similarly, Russia is the current first thought when looking to apportion blame for mischief elsewhere, and it could be the malefactor in this case, directly or by proxy. France, however, has a long history of protest, leading to stunts that would appal the Just Stop Oil prisoners, and one of the many groups within could be the culprit. I shall reserve judgment.

[stuving]

Often an event like this leads to reporters diving into their (virtual) cuttings file, and pulling and putting out whatever they find. If there are only previous instances of speculation based on prejudice, and no-one identified as culpable, that gets rehashed.

Politicians and the media in France are generally being quite cautious about that kind of naming the usual suspects. In the past the security types would, as in most places, have the left marked down as most likely to. But after some earlier railway sabotage (labelled "Tarnac") with a different modus operandi, they picked on a group and eventually prosecuted them. And the whole case fell apart, for want of any real evidence. So since then there has been a bit more care exhibited, in public at least, about confusing prejudice for facts.

I'm wondering about the kind of recreational rioters (aka Black Blocs) that hide in the back of big demo marches until they spot a chance to smash a load of windows. They have shown the ability to plan and organise, and get away with it, and any original political motivation has been left behind by wanting to play at secret agents. The lack of any kind of claim of or threat of further damage does suggest that strong political beliefs are not involved.

[stuving]

An e-mail was sent to several media organisations yesterday claiming responsibility for these attacks, so some of its content now been made public. Obviously the timing means its source might have nothing to do with whoever did it, and one report describes it as more a message of support.

The wording, as often in such cases, comes from a particular dialect of agit-prop, here ultraleft/anarchist. It starts by saying its from a "delagation inattendue", which I take to mean an uninvited delegation to the Olympics. It criticises the games as "a celebration of nationalism, a huge staged dramatisation of the subjection of peoples by states".

Official word is that the investigators think they will know who they are looking for soon. I imagine that's based on evidence found at the sites, especially of the failed attack, rather than any incoherent message.

[TonyK]

The senders of those messages may or may not be the perpetrators of the sabotage. If they are not, they certainly wouldn't be the first to try to take credit for someone else's handiwork. The terrorist group who committed the many outrageous murders in Moscow last March were most annoyed at the Kremlin government's attempts to attribute the attack to Ukraine. I hope the French investigators sort this one out quickly and accurately before it encourages copycat attacks.

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?