French train traffic improves after sabotage as Olympics start
French train traffic was improving on Saturday after the railway network was sabotaged ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
National operator SNCF said its agents worked all night in wet conditions to restore services on the high-speed TGV lines.
Authorities stuck with plans for the opening show of the games on Friday despite what they described as a large scale coordinated attack on the country’s fast rail infrastructure.
Traffic resumed on Saturday morning on the eastern high-speed line, while seven out of 10 trains on average were running with delays of 1 to 2 hours on the north, west and southwest TGV lines, SNCF said.
“At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the north axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns,” the national train operator added in its statement.
Police are investigating the act of sabotage, and no group has claimed responsibility.