France - railways, public transport, services and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

...........simply couldn't have happened in 2012, we had it all covered......

[infoman]

Do the media get told to exaggerate the situation?

Okay, 15 London to Paris journeys each set has maximum 750 passengers,

 equates to 11,250 carried each day add Paris to London means 22,500 passengers each day.

Where do they get 800,000  travelers will have their travel plans disrupted?

[TaplowGreen]

Do the media get told to exaggerate the situation?

Okay, 15 London to Paris journeys each set has maximum 750 passengers,

 equates to 11,250 carried each day add Paris to London means 22,500 passengers each day.

Where do they get 800,000  travelers will have their travel plans disrupted?

Er.....because not everyone heading to Paris is going via that specific route?

[broadgage]

And many French families were travelling not to Paris but going on holiday elsewhere in France or further afield, and the quoted figure for disrupted journeys would reasonably include those not DIRECTLY affected but suffering from overcrowding

[TonyK]

And many French families were travelling not to Paris but going on holiday elsewhere in France or further afield, and the quoted figure for disrupted journeys would reasonably include those not DIRECTLY affected but suffering from overcrowding

Exactly. The last Friday in July is traditionally the start of the départ, where Paris changes populations as those who can escape head for the coast. It's a very busy day for road and rail alike.

A lot of news oulets are reporting Russian links to this, with some naming a Russian with alleged FSB^» (Federation of Small Businesses - about) ties who has been arrested by the French. Someone (and I’ll have to be careful here) told me much earlier in the day that this was the Russians and authorities were concerned that this was only the start of things.

Every sparrow that falls in Russia these days is blamed on Ukraine. Similarly, Russia is the current first thought when looking to apportion blame for mischief elsewhere, and it could be the malefactor in this case, directly or by proxy. France, however, has a long history of protest, leading to stunts that would appal the Just Stop Oil prisoners, and one of the many groups within could be the culprit. I shall reserve judgment.

[stuving]

Often an event like this leads to reporters diving into their (virtual) cuttings file, and pulling and putting out whatever they find. If there are only previous instances of speculation based on prejudice, and no-one identified as culpable, that gets rehashed.

Politicians and the media in France are generally being quite cautious about that kind of naming the usual suspects. In the past the security types would, as in most places, have the left marked down as most likely to. But after some earlier railway sabotage (labelled "Tarnac") with a different modus operandi, they picked on a group and eventually prosecuted them. And the whole case fell apart, for want of any real evidence. So since then there has been a bit more care exhibited, in public at least, about confusing prejudice for facts.

I'm wondering about the kind of recreational rioters (aka Black Blocs) that hide in the back of big demo marches until they spot a chance to smash a load of windows. They have shown the ability to plan and organise, and get away with it, and any original political motivation has been left behind by wanting to play at secret agents. The lack of any kind of claim of or threat of further damage does suggest that strong political beliefs are not involved.

[stuving]

An e-mail was sent to several media organisations yesterday claiming responsibility for these attacks, so some of its content now been made public. Obviously the timing means its source might have nothing to do with whoever did it, and one report describes it as more a message of support.

The wording, as often in such cases, comes from a particular dialect of agit-prop, here ultraleft/anarchist. It starts by saying its from a "delagation inattendue", which I take to mean an uninvited delegation to the Olympics. It criticises the games as "a celebration of nationalism, a huge staged dramatisation of the subjection of peoples by states".

Official word is that the investigators think they will know who they are looking for soon. I imagine that's based on evidence found at the sites, especially of the failed attack, rather than any incoherent message.

[TonyK]

The senders of those messages may or may not be the perpetrators of the sabotage. If they are not, they certainly wouldn't be the first to try to take credit for someone else's handiwork. The terrorist group who committed the many outrageous murders in Moscow last March were most annoyed at the Kremlin government's attempts to attribute the attack to Ukraine. I hope the French investigators sort this one out quickly and accurately before it encourages copycat attacks.

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

[broadgage]

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

Freedom fighter ? patriot ?

[TaplowGreen]

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

Freedom fighter ? patriot ?

............always be wary of an overhead shot..........

[Western Pathfinder]

 One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist .

[stuving]

Last night a proper suspect was arrested -according to AFP and their friends in the police. Mind you, quite why anyone would be daft enough to be driving around at that time of the morning with wire cutters, SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) keys, and the kind of literature that gets you identified as a left-wing extremist is a puzzle.

There were also a number of vandalism/sabotage cases on fibre-optic links of telecoms companies, taking out several of their services locally. There was one similar on Friday morning too, with a claim from one of the left/anarchist splinter groups (groupuscules) that have always been a French speciality.

[TonyK]

Last night a proper suspect was arrested -according to AFP and their friends in the police. Mind you, quite why anyone would be daft enough to be driving around at that time of the morning with wire cutters, SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) keys, and the kind of literature that gets you identified as a left-wing extremist is a puzzle.
 

My thoughts too, on the literature matter. Maybe he was hoping to radicalise the cops who came for him, and hadn't thought the idea through completely.

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

I knew already, just a little tease. The term derives from the French sabot, a wooden clog worn by aggrieved workers, who implemented early forms of industrial action by messing things up. They didn't use the clogs to damage anything, as walking home with one bare foot was uncomfortable, but the name stuck. So I understand, others may know better.

[stuving]

Now - does anyone know the French for "saboteur"?

I knew already, just a little tease. The term derives from the French sabot, a wooden clog worn by aggrieved workers, who implemented early forms of industrial action by messing things up. They didn't use the clogs to damage anything, as walking home with one bare foot was uncomfortable, but the name stuck. So I understand, others may know better.

My little dictionnaire étymologique probably does know better; certainly it knows different. The verb saboter once meant something like to clog (in this sense) - to stamp, make a loud noise, or shake. But now it means roughly to bodge: to work shoddily or carelessly, damaging the work or machines. So sabotage (as the verbal noun) can only be done by the workers themselves, which probably was its main sense when first applied to industrial workers of a Luddite tendency.

Of course it may turn out that this has been done by very left-wing railway workers: there certainly are some - whole unionsful of them - in France.

[TonyK]

My little dictionnaire étymologique probably does know better; certainly it knows different. The verb saboter once meant something like to clog (in this sense) - to stamp, make a loud noise, or shake. But now it means roughly to bodge: to work shoddily or carelessly, damaging the work or machines. So sabotage (as the verbal noun) can only be done by the workers themselves, which probably was its main sense when first applied to industrial workers of a Luddite tendency.

Of course it may turn out that this has been done by very left-wing railway workers: there certainly are some - whole unionsful of them - in France.

I am obliged - I don't own such a detailed reference work. I did understand that the word saboter derived from the word sabot, in much the same way that there is a link between the use of the English clog as verb or noun. It's all fascinating, if slightly off thread.