France Bleu / Friday 25 June 2021
The high-speed line is out of service in Drôme because of several arsons over the night of Thursday, June 24 to Friday, June 25, around 3 am in Crest. Power, signal and fiber cables were set on fire in four different places in an area of 100 square meters. The damage is very important, 50 SNCF agents are mobilized for the repairs. The amount has not yet been calculated by the SNCF.
The repairs will take time, the traffic could resume normally Saturday at 16:00, it is only an estimate of the SNCF, nothing is certain at this stage. Trains are running, but are obliged to use the classic line. This means that no train leaves or arrives from the Valence TGV station. They have to go through Valence Ville. The Paris-Marseille line, which is very busy, is particularly affected.
All the TGV and TER trains on the same line cause traffic jams. According to the SNCF, all trains are about an hour late on Friday. The SNCF has filed a complaint. The research section of Grenoble is in charge of the investigation with the research brigade of Crest. In December 2019, a similar fire had already taken place, with the same method. The trains had also been stopped.
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France 3 / Saturday 26 June 2021
“This Friday, June 25, around 03:30 in the morning, south of Valence, four facilities containing signal cables located on the Mediterranean high-speed line have suffered a fire,” said the SNCF in a statement. “An act of sabotage was committed on the high-speed line at Eurre in the Drôme, electrical cables located underground were set on fire along the tracks cutting the power supply and signaling,” said the prefecture.
On the photos taken on the vandalized site, one can see charred cables. The SNCF indicated that the damage was “very important”. […]
An official was giving an update this Saturday morning. “Since yesterday (Friday), 4am, we have mobilized more than 50 specialized SNCF agents. This is specific work that had to be done,” explained Alexandre Bertholet, head of the Marseille-Valence LGV, this Saturday morning. “We have replaced more than 20 cables. More than 1,000 meters of cable were renewed. “
In addition to replacing the 20 cables affected, it was also necessary to carry out verification operations. “We had to mobilize resources to carry out this work but also to test the installations and make sure that we can resume traffic this morning (Saturday) at normal speed and in complete safety.”
According to the Dauphiné Libéré, “the damage caused by the sabotage of the TGV line amounts to more than one million euros” (title of a paid article dated 26/06).
[Translated by Act for freedom now!]
