A train carrying 186 passengers derailed in Normandy on Friday evening, injuring 44 people. French police are investigating whether sabotage caused the incident, which has raised concerns about rail safety and security.
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The reflex to call sabotage brings back last summer’s cable fires, though those were aimed precisely at avoiding anyone getting hurt — forty-four injured is a different order of thing altogether. And Brétigny took the best part of a decade to explain, so until the track itself is read properly I’d keep the theory at arm’s length.
Worth remembering that the July 2024 arson attacks took out signalling at four sites at once and wrecked travel plans for around 800,000 people, so treating a derailment as possible sabotage isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. SNCF logs several hundred incidents of deliberate damage a year, though most of that is cable theft rather than anything coordinated.
Let me guess how this ends. Three weeks of dramatic leaks, a blurry CCTV still, then silence. Nobody caught. Ministers promise “robust measures.” Translation: more cameras, fewer staff, fares up. Normandy’s tracks keep crumbling while the inquiry gathers dust. Sabotage or neglect — either way, commuters pay and nobody resigns.
