France's high-speed rail network was hit by "malicious acts", including arson attacks, on Friday, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024. The massive attacks disrupted the transport system, train operator SNCF said.
"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," SNCF told news agency AFP. The authorities added that many routes will have to be cancelled and the situation would last "at least all weekend while repairs are conducted".
1. Sources told AFP that the arson attacks on France's high-speed rail network were coordinated acts of "sabotage". Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete called the incident a “criminal action” and said, “Coordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend.”
2. According to news agency PTI, three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est. The disruptions particularly affected Paris' major Montparnasse station.
According to reports, the incidents paralysed several high-speed lines linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighbouring countries, according to Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete.
Moreover, travel to and from London beneath the English Channel, to neighbouring Belgium, and across the west, north, and east of France was also affected.
3. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the consequences of the "sabotage" on the rail network are "massive and serious". He said, "I think of all the French people, all the families, who were preparing to go on vacation. I share their anger and salute their patience, their understanding and the civic-mindedness they demonstrate."
"Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts," Attal posted.
4. "French railway sabotage affected 800,000 passengers," the operator said. Meanwhile, Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of the greater Paris region, said, “2,50,000 travellers will be affected today on all these lines”. Substitution plans were underway, but Pecresse advised travellers “not to go to stations”.
5. Passengers at St. Pancras station in London were warned to expect delays of around an hour to their Eurostar journeys. Announcements in the departure hall at the international terminus informed travellers heading to Paris that there was a problem with overhead power supplies.
6. Authorities said they did not know when traffic would resume and feared that disruptions would continue “at least all weekend.” SNCF teams “were already on site to carry out diagnostics and begin repairs,” but the “situation should last at least all weekend while the repairs are carried out”, the operator said.
SNCF advised “all passengers to postpone their journey and not to go to the station.” It specified in its press release that all tickets were exchangeable and refundable.
7. An airport located at the Swiss-French border was evacuated on Friday for security reasons, hours after arson attacks disrupted the French rail network ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.
Meanwhile, Eurostar said it would cancel a quarter of all services on its network and asked passengers to postpone their travel where possible on Friday after its rail services between London and Paris were disrupted by acts of vandalism in France.
8. Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, was quoted as saying that the police prefecture “concentrated its personnel in Parisian train stations” after the “massive attack” that paralysed the TGV high-speed network.
9. The attack occurred amid global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. Many travellers were planning to converge on the capital for the opening ceremony, and many vacationers were also in transit.
10. Government officials said there was no immediate sign of a direct link to the Olympics. National police said authorities were investigating the incidents.
11. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said authorities were working to “evaluate the impact on travellers and athletes, and ensure the transport of all delegations to the competition sites” for the Olympics.
“Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country," she said while speaking on BFM television. She did not identify who was behind the vandalism.
(With inputs from agencies)
