Travel chaos erupts as thousands hit by train delays after ‘clearly deliberate’ move | World | News
Vandals disrupted travel for thousands of passengers across France after setting fire to cables on key train lines between Paris and the popular south coast. High-speed TGV services between the capital and cities including Marseille, Avignon, Montpellier and Nice have been thrown into chaos, leaving passengers stranded during the busy half-term break.
The French transport ministry and national rail operator SNCF confirmed that around 100 trains were affected; This led to cancellations and delays of up to seven hours on flights operated by SNCF Voyageurs, Trenitalia and Renfe. The chaos began in the early hours of Monday, October 27, when railway workers discovered a fire in cables just south of Valence station between Lyon and Avignon. SNCF Réseau, which oversees rail infrastructure, said 16 cables had been destroyed “over a distance of 25 metres” and renovation work was already underway. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said the action was “clearly deliberate”.
“Last night railway cables were deliberately set on fire. These unacceptable acts of vandalism are seriously disrupting traffic,” Tabarot wrote on social media. “SNCF Réseau teams are fully mobilized to restore service as quickly as possible. Police are on the scene; the perpetrators of this sabotage must be identified and severely punished.”
Long queues formed at stations including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse as frustrated passengers faced hours of delays. SNCF urged passengers to postpone their travels if possible, warning that services were unlikely to return to normal before Tuesday.
“Our staff in the field estimate that repair work will continue until the early evening hours,” SNCF said. “Traffic may continue tonight but disruption will continue and normal service is expected from tomorrow morning.”
TGV trains were being diverted to avoid the affected area, but SNCF warned the alternative route had “very limited” capacity following a separate cable theft on Sunday night (26 October).
The new wave of rail chaos comes amid a sharp increase in vandalism and theft targeting France’s railway network; copper cables are often stolen for their scrap value.
Just before the Paris Olympic Games last year, arsonists launched coordinated attacks on fiber optic cables on the TGV network, disrupting travel for 800,000 people at the height of the summer holidays. Then-Prime Minister Gabriel Attal condemned the attacks as “prepared and coordinated sabotage” aimed at paralyzing France’s high-speed rail system.
French media received a letter from a far-left group claiming responsibility, but the true identities and motives of those behind the attacks were never determined.
