French trains 'hit by sabotage'

Rail workers have been striking for eight days

France's high-speed TGV rail network has been damaged by a "concerted campaign of sabotage", the SNCF state rail-owned operator has said.

It said acts of sabotage overnight, including fires, caused huge delays to TGV services already hit by a long transport union strike over reforms.

The SNCF blamed union militants for damaging the TGV network, describing the attacks as "acts of vandalism".

The rail unions and the government are due to hold talks to end the strike.

In a statement, the SNCF said there had been "several acts" occurring "at the same time" on the TGV network.

It said these included a "very large" fire on the TGV's Atlantic branch that damaged about 30km (18 miles) of the signal network.

Guillaume Pepy, a senior SNCF official, told RTL radio that the acts of sabotage severely disrupted TGV services.

The open-ended rail strike is over planned changes to the pension system by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But Mr Sarkozy has vowed to press on with the reforms.