High-speed trains around France were hit by several “malicious acts” that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, according to the national rail company SNCF.
The train operator estimates 80,000 people have been impacted by what SNCF called a series of coordinated overnight incidents.
They labelled the overnight disruption a “massive attack aimed at paralysing the high-speed line network”.
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In a post on X, SNCF said “a large number of trains were diverted or cancelled,” and asked “all travelers who can to postpone their trip and not go to the station.”
Travel to and from London beneath the English Channel, to neighbouring Belgium, and across the west, north and east of France were all affected.
Government officials denounced the incidents hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which are happening around France, though there was no immediate sign of a link to the Games.
The railway operator said the disruption hit Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed TGV lines, with damage caused to several of its facilities. SNCF said one of the acts was “foiled”.
Disruptions were expected throughout the weekend as work crews oversee repairs, it added.
SNCF group president told BFMTV that while the network was prepared for the Olympic Games, they’re now looking to mobilise hundreds more personnel, to fix the network as quickly as possible.
The Rémi Train Centre Val de Loire said travel on its railway lines would be disrupted until at least Monday, with a fire near the tracks in Courtalain, northern France impacting services to Paris.
The reports come just hours before the Olympic torch relay concludes and the Opening Ceremony begins, with more than 320,000 spectators expected to attend along the River Seine.
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Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera condemned the attacks in the “strongest possible terms”, and said it is “truly appalling”.
“Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country,” she told BFMTV.
Oudéa-Castera said the incidents will disrupt travel on Friday and the weekend.
“We will assess the impacts on travellers, athletes, and ensure the proper transport of all delegations to the competition sites,” she said.
She didn’t identify who was behind the vandalism.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said in a post on X that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents”, and that SNCF is working to restore traffic.
Speaking on BFMTV, Vergriete described people fleeing from the scene of fires and the discovery of incendiary devices at the site.
“Everything indicates that these are criminal fires,” he said.
Meanwhile, Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Île-de-France region, in which Paris lies, said on Friday that all elements “point towards this being a deliberate act”.
National police said authorities are investigating what happened.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez, speaking on France Info radio, said he would send police reinforcement to overcrowded train stations in relation to the SNCF incidents.
Security in Paris had already been bolstered in recent weeks.
France plans to deploy around 35,000 police each day during the Games, peaking at 45,000 for the Opening Ceremony, a spokesperson at the French interior ministry previously told CNN.
In addition, 10,000 soldiers will be deployed in the Paris region – an effort supported by 1800 police officers from around the world, they added.
Nicolas Nordman, Deputy Paris Mayor in charge of security, recently told CNN that authorities had been working for months to try to anticipate what might happen and were confident the ceremony would be safe.
Eurostar, the high-speed train service that connects the United Kingdom with France, has been forced to cancel and divert trains due to the “coordinated acts of malice”, on French lines.
In a statement to CNN, Eurostar said that the incidents have impacted travel between Paris and Lille, forcing the train network to divert journeys and extend travel times.
“Due to coordinated acts of malice in France, affecting the high speed line between Paris and Lille, all high speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today Friday 26 July. This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half. Several trains have been cancelled,” the statement outlined.
– With Associated Press, CNN
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