via: sansnom

Modane (Savoie): arson attack on the Lyon-Turin high-speed train construction site

Five pieces of construction equipment were damaged by an arson attack on Saturday July 29 in Modane, Savoie. Around 11 p.m., some fifteen firefighters were mobilized to the scene of the incident, a site belonging to the French-Italian state-owned company Telt (Tunnel euralpin Lyon Turin), which is responsible for building the Lyon-Turin rail link.

Bangs from exploding machine tires were heard. The Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne Gendarmerie, in charge of the investigation, said there was no doubt that the fire was deliberate. Four points of ignition were identified on wooden pallets placed under the burnt-out vehicles.

Work was due to start on this section on Monday, but has been postponed for several weeks. The equipment targeted was to have been used to drill 200 meters of tunnel to create a bypass for heavy goods vehicles on their way to the construction site. An investigation has been opened by the Albertville public prosecutor’s office.

“I don’t understand how it could come to this,” said Modane’s mayor (DVG), Jean-Claude Raffin, indicating that the damage is estimated at between “1 and 2 million” euros. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the damage committed against the Lyon-Turin construction site. An unjustifiable and dangerous act”, declared Transport Minister Clément Beaune on Twitter (renamed “X”), adding that the investigation “will determine those responsible and enable them to be punished”. For its part, the Telt company “strongly condemns the damage committed last night”, speaking of an “unclaimed act of malice”.

The Lyon-Turin rail link, which will pass through a 57.5 km tunnel between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Suse (Italy), has been contested for many years by some local residents, joined by elected representatives and environmental activists. The line is scheduled to enter service in 2032.