What do we know about the “sabotage” of the French railways?

Three separate arson attacks targeting France’s high-speed rail network paralyzed train traffic across the country on Friday as Paris prepared to host the

It was not clear who and whether they were deliberately planned to disrupt the organisation of the event in France.

Here’s what we know so far:

What happened?

The explosive devices caused fires in signalling infrastructure on three railway lines leading to Paris, rail operator SNCF said.

Attacks hit the lines from cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was thwarted.

Passengers gather around the departure and arrival boards at the railway station. Source: Getty / Thibaud Moritz/AFP

One attack occurred near Courtalain, southwest of Paris, another at Pagny-sur-Moselle in northeastern France and a third at Croisilles on the Belgian border.

What was the goal?

National rail operator SNCF said “deliberate arson attacks” damaged signalling infrastructure in Courtalain in western France, Croisilles in the north and Pagny-Sur-Moselle in the east.

The three incidents affected French railway lines in the Atlantic, north and east of the country, causing mass cancellations and delays during a particularly busy holiday period.

“Early this morning, coordinated and prepared acts of sabotage were carried out against SNCF installations,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

SNCF Chief Executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said the attackers had set fire to “conduits carrying many (fibre optic) cables” that transmit “safety information to drivers” or control engines at switch points where tracks are changed.

Who does this apply to?

Some 800,000 passengers are expected to be affected over the weekend as the damage is extensive and will require extensive repairs. SNCF said a quarter of a million passengers had been affected on Friday.

The French rail network was expected to be very busy this weekend, not only because of the Olympics but also because people were returning from or going on summer holidays.

“The rail network will have serious and enormous consequences,” Attal added.

Passenger overview at the railway station.

Passengers await further information at Montparnasse train station after damage to a high-speed rail line caused delays and cancellations on Friday. Source: Getty / David Ramos

Passenger services chief Christophe Fanichet said there were delays of between 90 minutes and two hours on routes between Paris and the north and east of France.

One of the network’s main branches, a line running to south-east France, was spared when track maintenance workers surprised unauthorised persons on site.

High-speed rail operator Eurostar said around a quarter of services on its network linking France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany would be cancelled, including trains from Paris to London.

Others will be slower because they will run on regular lines that are not designed for high-speed trains.

What will happen now?

SNCF’s Farandou said: “There are a huge number of cable bundles. We have to repair them one by one, it’s a manual operation” requiring “hundreds of workers”.

However, early on Friday afternoon, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said some departures would go ahead and that “every third” train would depart from Paris’ Montparnasse station, the terminus of the line to Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete called it an “obscene criminal attack.” Source: Getty / Thibaud Moritz

Long-distance ride-sharing app Blablacar said bookings for Friday were up 150 percent compared to expectations.

SNCF said two of three high-speed trains connecting Paris with western and southwestern France would run as planned over the weekend, while 80 percent of high-speed trains in northern France would run. However, all journeys would be delayed.

Eurostar said one in five of its trains would be cancelled this weekend and warned of delays on trains that do run.

Who are the culprits?

No one has taken responsibility for the attacks, and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said it was too early to speculate who might be behind them.

Two security sources told Reuters that initial suspicions were on leftist militants and environmental activists, but said they had no evidence yet.

SNCF CEO Farandou said rail workers carrying out night-time maintenance work in central France spotted the unauthorised people, who fled when the workers called the police.

Workers are working to reconnect the signal box to the tracks.

Workers are working on Friday to reconnect the signal box to the tracks in the technical channels at Vald’ Yerres, near Chartres. Source: Getty / Jean-François Monier/AFP

Minister Vergriete reported that people were spotted with “vans” and “incendiary devices were found at the scene of the attacks”, calling it an “obscene criminal attack”.

“This operation was prepared, coordinated, targeting vulnerable locations, which shows that the network is somehow familiar with where to strike,” Prime Minister Attal said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in June that there had been several incidents of “sabotage and attempted arson” by Russia within the alliance, but there was no indication Moscow was behind Friday’s attacks in France.

What legal actions are being taken?

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement that her office had opened an investigation into suspicion of attempting to harm “fundamental national interests.”

The investigation will also look into suspicions that the damage was caused by an organised crime group and that the attacks targeted an automated data processing system.

The investigation is in the hands of criminal prosecutors. Anti-terrorism prosecutors have not been asked to take on the case.