Specially-trained undercover members of France’s elite Republican Guard have been travelling on certain TGV trains in an experimental deployment. The scheme lasted one and a half months and came to an end at the close of 2017.
Called “Train Marshalls”, the armed soldiers travelled on certain routes that had been identified as more likely targets for terrorists. However, only three teams of two officers were deployed, meaning that at any given time only a small fraction of TGV routes were covered.
The scheme will now be evaluated for its usefulness. Any further use of the special teams is likely to be influenced by manpower considerations and the fact that anti-terror officers are thinly spread.