SNCF: an “act of vandalism” south of Montpellier severely disrupts train traffic
France Bleu/Hérault Tribune/Midi Libre, September 9, 2025

Train traffic is severely disrupted on Tuesday, September 9, in the Hérault and Gard departments. At 7 a.m., the SNCF reported that an act of vandalism between Montpellier and Sète had interrupted rail traffic to and from the Sud de France station, causing serious delays on several lines, including Montpellier-Narbonne, Montpellier-Nîmes, and Nîmes-Avignon.

The incident involved a fire in underground SNCF electrical cables located in the Jasse de Maurin area of Lattes between midnight and 12:30 a.m. on Monday night/Tuesday, September 9, which is a strategic area for the network: this is where trains take the Montpellier bypass towards the Sud-de-France station.
The Lattes municipal police, followed by officers from the Montpellier police station, arrived at the scene. A small fire had started to spread to the vegetation. Investigators from the local judicial police service (SLPJ) noted damage to the signaling system’s power supply at two different points.

At 1 a.m., technical teams arrived on site to carry out inspections and repairs. The network is expected to be back up and running on Wednesday, September 10, in the morning. An investigation has been opened by the gendarmerie.

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A TGV train remains stranded in the middle of the night at Sète station. Here’s why.

Midi Libre, September 10, 2025

Dozens of passengers thought they would not be able to return home on Tuesday, September 9, due to another incident on the line between Montpellier and Béziers.

Passengers on the TGV departing for Perpignan at 4:55 p.m. from Paris Gare de Lyon on Tuesday, September 9, via Montpellier and Sète, thought they would never reach their destination. From the outset, the SNCF announced a 20-minute delay due to an act of sabotage that occurred overnight between Monday and Tuesday between Montpellier and Sète, forcing the public transport operator to suspend rail traffic to and from the Sud de France station. The incident caused serious delays on several routes, including Montpellier-Narbonne, Montpellier-Nîmes, and Nîmes-Avignon.

But the rail adventure took a turn for the worse at Montpellier station around 7 p.m. As Jean-Jacques recounts: “We learned that another incident had just occurred in Béziers. And since regional trains could no longer run, their passengers boarded our train. It took about 45 minutes,” Jean-Jacques describes. So far, nothing too problematic. It was at Sète station that the situation took a different turn. “At around 10:15 p.m., the train stopped at Sète station and we were told that we didn’t know when it would be able to leave again due to a problem with an electrical substation in Béziers. The station was plunged into darkness,” says the passenger.

The passengers (several dozen) believed it was another act of vandalism, which even the train conductors suggested. “People started getting off the train to make arrangements to get home. Some looked for hotels in Sète, those who had to return to Agde called their relatives, and others organized carpooling.” Finally, the train departed again around 11 p.m.

The SNCF confirmed that an incident had occurred in Béziers but that it was not related to any act of sabotage: “The signal failure occurred around 3 or 4 p.m.,” said the on-call service. The agents managed to restart it, but it shut down again around 7 p.m. It was difficult to find the source of the problem, but it was finally repaired around 10:30 p.m.”

via: sansnom
Translated by Act for freedom now!