Sabotaging the daily routine (continued)

Gare de l’Est: why is the interruption of traffic due to a “sabotage” so prolonged?
Le Parisien, January 24, 2023

“It’s titanic,” agrees an agent, this Tuesday afternoon, regarding the extent of the damage, which explains the interruption of train traffic at Gare de l’Est, all day Tuesday. In front of him, on the ground, a tangle of cables of all kinds. On the side, two others patiently arrange portions of fiber optics, “it’s like long hair that is tangled”.

During the night of Monday to Tuesday, a fire broke out near the railroad tracks at Vaires-sur-Marne.

The alert was given to the police station of Noisiel around 4:35 am, says the prosecutor of Meaux. The public prosecutor of Meaux specifies that, according to the first indications of the investigation, entrusted to the judicial police of Meaux, “a first box housing electrical cables had been set on fire after two concrete panels barring access to the trap door where this box is inserted in the ground had been removed and deposited,” he said. “A second box, located on the other side of the tracks, accessible through a tunnel under the tracks, had also been damaged by fire.” In total, 48 cable arteries, or about 600 electrical cables, were damaged. The equivalent of 4 km in length.

The two burned cable chambers are located on either side of a tunnel, over which trains pass. Just next door, a small SNCF building houses some of the facilities. But the whole site is hidden from view, on the edge of the Vaires-sur-Marne woods and its dense vegetation. It is difficult to arrive here by chance. Even worse, tires were burned above the cables, as a sign of the determination of the perpetrators to set the place ablaze. On the other hand, the area is certainly closed by a large gate and protected by a fence and barbed wire. But it seems easy for those who wish to do so to cross the obstacle. Along the railroad track, one could even notice a portion almost lying down which could have been completely stepped over. Finally, according to the SNCF, there are no video surveillance cameras on the site.

These cables are however essential. They are the ones that allow the communication and power supply of the trains to circulate, but also of the signaling boxes. “Without them, the signaling boxes no longer receive the quality and reliable information needed to run trains safely on the network,” SNCF said. The agents will therefore have to change the sheaths and hundreds of cables manually and check night after night which traffic can be restored. “We’ll be here at least all night. For once, it’s not raining,” said one of the agents.

During the day, the investigation was handed over to the PJ by the Meaux public prosecutor’s office. All leads remained open as to the identity of those responsible for this “sabotage”.

Gare de l’Est: burned cables, paralyzed traffic… questions about a giant outage
Le Parisien, January 25, 2023 (extract)

It took more than 48 hours for the SNCF, which expects a return to normal on Thursday, to restore all traffic after the arson of cables on a signal box in Seine-et-Marne. A look back at an incident that once again highlights the vulnerability of the French rail network.

How could a fire some 40 kilometers from Paris paralyze train traffic throughout eastern France, and as far away as Germany and Luxembourg? It all began on the night of Monday, January 23 to Tuesday, January 24. An intentional fire was set at a signal box near the SNCF tracks at Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne). Two “cable chambers” were burned, using tires and hydrocarbons. These are sort of manholes that house fiber optic and copper cable sheaths. Forty-eight of them were damaged, representing approximately 600 cables. The “butterfly effect” was immediate. No more TGV, Intercity, TER or Transilien trains could leave or arrive at the Gare de l’Est on Tuesday, and traffic was disrupted on Wednesday.

Traffic should be fully restored this Thursday morning, after two days of major disruptions and repair work. “The agents had to identify which cable is connected to which installations, find out if it was damaged or not and find out how to replace it,” says SNCF Réseau, the manager of the 28,000 km of track, including 3,500 km for the Ile-de-France region alone. Here is a look at the questions raised by this giant breakdown.

How could this incident bring all the lines to a halt?

The burnt cables carry the communications and power supply for the trains, but also for the signal boxes and signalling systems. The one at Vaires-sur-Marne is essential for the safety and smooth running of trains in the east. A single incident can bring traffic to a halt. Not all lines have been stopped,” says Olivier Bancel, Executive Director of Maintenance at SNCF Réseau. But the malicious act was committed at a rail hub, at the junction of different traffic routes, which is penalizing.

The network is designed to protect itself,” said an administrator at the company. If the power to the signaling system is cut off at a certain point, all the lights turn red and the track control unit locks up.”

Why isn’t there a backup system?

Some of the circuits affected at Vaires-sur-Marne were doubled, especially the optical fibers, which made it possible to speed up repairs. “But this would be very complex to generalize over a 28,000 km network. In railways, as elsewhere, there is no such thing as a 100% invulnerable installation,” concedes Olivier Bancel.

To put it plainly, the number of cables would have to be doubled, and they would have to be routed in a different place to prevent a malicious act from affecting both signaling systems at the same time. “We already don’t have enough resources to maintain the network and prevent it from falling apart. To imagine that we can improve it in this way is illusory,” says a union source.

Why wasn’t the station secured?

It is impossible to place the entire network under the eye of video surveillance cameras or guarding. However, this incident shows the vulnerability of these facilities. “There are, of course, fences, guards and reinforced surveillance devices, and some 30 drones have provided surveillance missions of the network for the year 2021 alone. But let’s not forget that we’re talking about a very vast network,” insists Olivier Bancel. The railway company spends more than €100 million a year (€131 million in provisions for 2023) to secure its tracks.

At Vaires-sur-Marne, a fence topped with barbed wire separates the nearby wooded area from the tracks to prevent intrusion. And a gate and concrete blocks prevented access to the area. Not enough of a deterrent.

The cables are within everyone’s reach, just like the telecommunications or electricity cables in the streets,” says an SNCF Réseau administrator. We are at the mercy of these kinds of malicious acts. Putting cameras everywhere would require colossal investments. Not to mention the fact that you need agents behind each camera and teams ready to intervene.

Does this incident highlight the disrepair of the French rail network?

Yes and no. Even if the French network were state-of-the-art, this kind of event would still happen. “But perhaps less often,” points out this union source. ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) technology, already in use on some sections, would not require as many cables and the “hot spots” would be a little rarer. “As long as signaling systems require ground connections to function, we will unfortunately not be able to prevent such acts,” says one administrator.

How often do these malicious acts occur?

Yes, almost daily. SNCF Réseau records 2,500 acts of vandalism or damages and a thousand thefts per year, encouraged by the continuous rise in the price of raw materials. On Wednesday, the price of a kilo of copper was 8.06 euros, enough to attract theft. “Not all the acts have the same consequences, but every day, trains are delayed or cancelled by these malicious acts,” said an SNCF Réseau administrator.

Traffic disrupted at Gare de l’Est: SNCF says that it is “sabotage”.
Le Parisien, January 24, 2023

Traffic at a complete standstill at Gare de l’Est? The fault of “an act of sabotage”, denounces this Tuesday the SNCF, after the deliberate arson of electrical cables of a signal box in Seine-et-Marne, which has virtually paralyzed all traffic all day in the Parisian station.

“This morning, we suffered an act of sabotage around 3am, we discovered (…) significant damage,” said Olivier Bancel, number two of SNCF Réseau. “This is an act of sabotage on signaling cables that include safety circuits.” “There is no lead, no claim of a group” at this stage of investigations, said a source close to the investigation.

The Minister of Transport Clement Beaune denounced “an outrageous act of malice (…) with a deliberate intention to harm and seriously disrupt traffic”, which “must be punished and condemned”. He mentioned in particular “traces of petrol” and a fire “in two targeted points” which caused “a rather exceptional, very serious incident”.

via: sansnom