A far-left activist was arrested yesterday, Sunday, at a facility of the French railway company SNCF, according to police sources, after the sabotage of the SNCF network a few hours before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris when new acts of sabotage hit fiber optic networks of several providers overnight in six regions of the country.

The man who was arrested yesterday had in his vehicle “access keys to SNCF technical facilities”, “pliers-cutters” and “set of passepartout keys”, as well as far-left printed material, according to a police source. The man is being held in Rouen.

France is increasingly leaning towards the possibility that far-left extremists were behind the sabotage of the TGV high-speed train network, which took place on the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said today.

At the same time, a police source reported that new acts of sabotage affected the fiber optic networks of many providers such as Bouygues Telecom and the SFR at night in six regions of France. However, Paris was not affected, the same source clarified.

There were reports that wires in electrical cabinets had been cut in southern France and that facilities in the Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise region near Paris had been vandalized, mainly affecting fixed-line services.

The French interior minister told France 2 TV that “we have identified the profile of various people” in the investigation into the saboteurs. The way they acted bears the characteristics of far-left extremists, he noted, without elaborating further.

“The point is to establish whether they were manipulated or acted on their own behalf,” he underlined.

High-speed train routes have been restored

Meanwhile, all trains are running as normal today after crews worked around the clock over the weekend to repair the damage, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriet told RTL radio earlier.

“I confirm to you, today (Monday) morning, all trains are running, and on the Est line (s.b. serving eastern France) -where this has been done since Saturday-, the Atlantique line (s.b. serves the western France), where yesterday (Sunday) we were already in an almost normal situation, and on (line) Nord (s.s. serving northern France), where yesterday we had three out of four trains, today the traffic is normal” said Minister of Transport Patrice Vergriet on RTL.

About 800,000 people have had their commutes disrupted by the malicious actions, including 100,000 who had to have their trains canceled immediately, Vergriet added, noting that the cost to state rail company SNCF would be significant.