Sabotage on rail lines in France: many TGVs to south-east cancelled
Separate fires on high-speed line near Lyon has crippled services
Several dozen trains are reported to be affected by the disruption
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Several high-speed TGV trains have been cancelled in France this morning (October 27) after a fire on the tracks between Valence (Drôme) and Lyon (Rhône), which authorities believe is an act of vandalism.
The fire, which impacted cables on the south-east high-speed line overnight, has led to services between Lyon/Paris and cities in the south-east being heavily disrupted.
Services to Marseille, Avignon, Nice, and other cities in the area are impacted,with “several dozen” trains affected according to national rail operator SNCF. Direct trains between Paris and Lyon are not affected.
Services affected include both OuiGo and InOui TGV variants, and as of midday, services are expected to be impacted until Tuesday (October 28) morning.
Some high-speed services are still running to and from the south-east, but are using the traditional section of track for non-high-speed trains, causing longer journey times and interrupting services that also use the tracks.
The SNCF “encourages passengers to postpone their trip and check their train's availability before heading to the station,” if travelling today along the route, it says in an update on its website.
You can check live travel information through the SNCFConnect website or smartphone app.
The delays are particularly impactful as many families were travelling to or from the warmer south-east as part of half-term holiday plans.
‘Unacceptable acts of vandalism’
Currently, precise information on the fires are scarce but the SNCF is describing it as an “act of vandalism”.
“Last night, railway cables were deliberately set on fire… These unacceptable acts of vandalism are severely disrupting traffic,” said Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot on X.
“SNCF Réseau teams are fully mobilised to restore service as quickly as possible.
“The police are on the scene: the perpetrators of this sabotage must be identified and severely punished,” he added.
Local media in Drôme is reporting that two fires along separate parts of the track were recorded overnight. The first, in Alixan, saw five metres of cables burnt, with a second in Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence burning cables, transport vehicles and a rail excavator.
The damage from the sabotage is expected to cost millions of euros to repair, and comes on top of any compensation to be paid out to passengers impacted by delays today.
Railway sabotage is a form of protest sometimes used by political groups in France.
Notably, services across France were crippled on the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, when several high-speed lines were targeted with fires.
