Traffic resumed faster than expected on Wednesday at the Gare de l’Est in Paris, the day after the “act of sabotage” which put it on hold all day on Tuesday, the repair work having “well advanced”, according to SNCF. “Repair work on the facilities damaged by the arson has made good progress overnight and is continuing on Wednesday,” the public group said.
Traffic has improved since midday, with three out of four trains for the TGV Est. The day had started with only one out of three TGVs during peak hours and one out of two during the day.
SNCF Voyageurs remains cautious for Thursday
All TGVs are now again departing from and arriving at the Gare de l’Est, and no longer diverted for some to the Gare du Nord or the Gare de Lyon. Improvement also on the “P Nord” line towards Meaux and Château-Thierry, with only “a few adaptations of services”. The “P Sud” lines to Tournan and Provins and the RER E are not affected, while the TERs of the Grand Est run normally. SNCF Voyageurs remains cautious for Thursday, however, promising an update on its forecasts at 5 p.m.
As a reminder, the arson of signaling and switch installations in Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne), early Tuesday morning, paralyzed the Gare de l’Est all day Tuesday, forcing the SNCF to cancel almost all of its trains, some TGVs being diverted to other stations. SNCF Réseau, which denounced an “act of sabotage”, filed a complaint and the Meaux prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for willful degradation and endangering the lives of others.
According to executives of the railway company interviewed by AFP, the perpetrators “necessarily knew the network well”. Asked about RTL, the former secretary general of Unsa railway, Roger Dillenseger, did not rule out that this act was the work of SNCF agents.