Deliberate arson attacks on SNCF's network

[AlbertBeale]

Anarchists protesting against the JO have claimed responsibility to french media but no proof yet that the claim is real.

Sorry....what does 'JO' stand for?

Jeux Olympiques - Olympic Games.

Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières
Jeux sans frontières

Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willy, Willy is happy again
Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt
Adolf builds a bonfire, Enrico plays with it

etc

OK different games ......

There's a long tradition of political objection to the way the games have become so national-focused. (When the Modern Games were invented in the late 1800s, initially the idea was a competition between individuals, not representing nations, along with a pause in ongoing conflicts at the time - ie modelled on the principles of the original Greek Olympics. But within a few years the whole nationalism thing reared its head, and they ended up with flags, "national contingents", and - later - league tables etc, which has all continued right through to now. There is still a very nominal "Olympic Truce" organisation, but I stress the "nominal".)

Hence, anarchists and other anti-nationalists have long been part of the anti-Olympics campaigns that always exist where it's being held. In the years leading up to the 2012 Games in London, the opposition network in this country was politically extremely mixed, but certainly included some anarchists. (It also got minimal publicity in this country, but rather more abroad; and it suffered from infiltration by undercover police, though how much has yet to be discovered.)

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I saw that term used in the Guardian. This is the UK mainstream media we are talking about. Those of us familiar with their quality of analysis and editorialising on HS2 (shout-out to that paper's Mr Jenkins!) hardly have confidence in reportage on high speed rail more generally.

The Guardian's Gwyn Topham is their transport specialist and is pretty good normally.
He knows his stuff on HS2 and industrial relations, for instance.
It's when they use non-specialist, agency and foreign reporters that it goes haywire.
Jenkins is in a class of his own, with much railway knowledge (he was on the BR Board for a while) but he puts it to negative effect.

 

[Falcon1200]

'Games without frontiers, war without tears'......

 

[nwales58]

And now being treated as a manifesto of support for the attacks, not an authentic claim of responsibility.

 

[30907]

Services are using the LGV today according to RTT.

 

[Thames99]

According to the French press

Attaque contre le réseau SNCF : un militant interpellé dimanche sur l'un site de la société ferroviaire

Un militant a été interpellé sur une site de la SNCF ce dimanche 28 juillet 2024 en Seine-Maritime.

www.midilibre.fr

a person was arrested last night in Oissel, Seine Maritime in the north of France. He was in a car and had wire cutters and SNCF access keys. It also says he had papers linking him to a far left group.

 

[Cloud Strife]

It's been done the last couple of days using French pilot drivers.
French drivers don't necessarily need route knowledge in the same way it's needed in the UK.

It really isn't a problem. I was talking to one KD driver here in Poland when they operated a charter service to Warsaw, and he said that you simply have to follow the signals and the signs.

No need to know the route, no need to be trained on it, just do what you see. I did ask what would happen if the weather was bad, and he said that it very rarely happens that the weather is so bad that you can't see the trackside signs.

 

[duesselmartin]

no risk, no fun then.

 

[WessexEclectic]

French rail network vandalism: Investigators probe far-left connections, foreign links

Those responsible for the coordinated acts of sabotage that hit the French railway network on Friday, just before the Olympic Games' opening ceremony, are still unknown. Initial police investigations…

www.france24.com

Those responsible for the coordinated acts of sabotage that hit the French railway network on Friday, just before the Olympic Games' opening ceremony, are still unknown. Initial police investigations are looking at individuals connected with extreme left-wing groups. However, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has also raised the possibility of foreign involvement.

Archive link

 

[SHD]

It really isn't a problem. I was talking to one KD driver here in Poland when they operated a charter service to Warsaw, and he said that you simply have to follow the signals and the signs.

No need to know the route, no need to be trained on it, just do what you see. I did ask what would happen if the weather was bad, and he said that it very rarely happens that the weather is so bad that you can't see the trackside signs.

That may be possible on the Polish network which, like other OSJD networks, operates under full-fledged speed signalling, but it is not really possible on French classical lines whose signalling system is a hybrid between route and speed signalling.

To put it very quickly (there are obviously many subtleties), junctions and points are typically speed-signalled, either through specific yellow aspects or through ad-hoc lineside speed boards called TIV (Tableaux Indicateurs de Vitesse).

Reference speed change points can be remarkable points (a station hall, a bridge, a signal gantry…) or lineside mileage (well actually kilometreage) markers “Km XX.xx”. In addition, short speed restriction sections will be signalled with TIVs followed by a Z(one) marker for execution and a R(eprise) marker for resuming.

The max reference speed of line sections and the max speed on restricted sections often depend on the train category - drivers need that knowledge.

Obviously, drivers must also know the remarkable points and the location of the “Km whatever” markers. So all in all, French drivers do need some amount of route knowledge and when they have not signed a route, they need a pilot driver.

 

[nw1]

I can't remember if 374 are allowed on classical line (probably as they need to leave the LGV at Charles de Gaulle Airport before entering Paris Nord), but 373s are for sure up to running there.

Now it's mostly the case of the driver and TM signing either of the classical routes

EDIT: they can and do run on classical lines

It was a 373 but I got diverted on classic lines on 26 July 2013. Can't remember the cause, possibly lightning striking electrical equipment.

 

[railfan99]

Is everything back to normal on all lines?

Any update on finding those responsible for these attacks?

 

[signed]

Is everything back to normal on all lines?

Everything is back to normal since the Monday after the attacks. Well, if you discount the mini-tornadoes and major thunderstorm that struck the eastern parts of the country last week.

Where a tree fell on a TGV power car :

Une "tornade soudaine" : le TGV Lyon-Rennes touché par les orages, chaos à la SNCF

Un orage soudain et violent a frappé l'Yonne en endommageant un TGV Lyon-Rennes ainsi que la ligne LGV Sud-Est. Toute la ligne entre Lyon et Paris est paralysée.

actu.fr

 

[Nehalem501]

Reference speed change points can be remarkable points (a station hall, a bridge, a signal gantry…) or lineside mileage (well actually kilometreage) markers “Km XX.xx”. In addition, short speed restriction sections will be signalled with TIVs followed by a Z(one) marker for execution and a R(eprise) marker for resuming.

The max reference speed of line sections and the max speed on restricted sections often depend on the train category - drivers need that knowledge.

Obviously, drivers must also know the remarkable points and the location of the “Km whatever” markers. So all in all, French drivers do need some amount of route knowledge and when they have not signed a route, they need a pilot driver.

Actually, route knowledge is not needed for this as the train driver always gets documents which lists all of this data along station stop times and other information prior to starting his service (fiches trains / bulletins de service).




Nowadays, this is done through an iPad app called SIRIUS (Système Informatique Regroupant les Informations Utiles au Service des conducteurs, yeah in France we love long acronyms) that knows your train's position using the iPad's GPS.