France’s rail network has been hit by a series of “malicious acts” that have damaged transport routes leading to the capital, causing cancellations and disruption just hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
“Last night, SNCF was the victim of several simultaneous malicious acts affecting the Atlantique, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines,” the SNCF, France’s train operator, said in a statement.
“Deliberate fires were set to damage our facilities,” the operator said, adding that another incident “has been thwarted on South East high speed line.”
The three affected lines, which are part of the TGV rail network, connect Paris to Bordeaux in the southwest of France, Lille in the north, and Strasbourg on the border with Germany.
Trains have been canceled, and the disruption would likely last “at least the whole weekend while the network is repaired,” the SNCF said.
“Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out in a prepared and coordinated manner on SNCF installations,” the French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said in a post on X.
The impact on the rail network was “massive and serious,” Attal wrote.
The prime minister said France’s intelligence services and law enforcement have been mobilized to find the perpetrators. At the time of publication, nothing was publicly known about who carried out the acts or why.
Though several Olympic events are being held outside Paris, Attal highlighted the impact on French families leaving for vacation this weekend rather than on the Olympics.
250,000 travelers were expected to travel Friday and another 800,000 over the weekend, the SNCF said.
This weekend marks the start of a French custom known as the “grand départ,” during which many Parisians depart the city and take the entire month of August off.
“This is an attack on France,” the boss of the SCNF told local news station BFM TV.
As well as causing disruption within France, the attacks have also caused issues with Eurostar trains, which run between London and Paris, and several other major European cities.
The attacks also add more pressure to concerns over whether Paris’ transport infrastructure can manage the Olympic crowds.
Officials promised to reinvigorate the transport system after Paris won the Olympic bid.
But, in November 2023, the mayor of Paris said there were parts of the city where “transport will not be ready and there will not be enough trains,” according to French radio network RFI.
However, the system has seen a “significant improvement” in recent months, according to Jimmy Brun, a spokesman for the Parisian transport authorities, per Olympics-focused news outlet Inside the Games.
According to France24, 90% of trains were on time on the Paris Metro in March,
The capital, which has a population of around 2 million, expects 11 million visitors to descend to enjoy the two weeks of games — almost double the number that visited Paris in July and August in 2023, according to the Paris tourism site Paris Je T’aime.
The city’s congested metro system has also been criticized for its lack of accessibility. In 2018, only 3% of Paris’s Metro stations were wheelchair-accessible, according to Bloomberg.
Organizers have arranged for shuttle buses to support people with disabilities.
