France railway network attack: PM says saboteurs targeted main routes to Paris, sought to block trains ahead of Olympics

The Paris Olympics got off to a rough start on Friday with suspected arsonists targeting the high-speed rail network in France. Outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the saboteurs had targeted the three main routes to the capital city with a clear objective to “blocking the high speed train network”.

“Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out in a prepared and coordinated manner on SNCF installations. The consequences on the rail network are massive and serious. Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts,” the PM wrote on X.

A series of coordinated arson attacks led to cancellations and delays across the French rail network on Friday with tens of thousands of passengers stuck while trying to visit Paris for the Games or vacations. Attal told reporters in the afternoon that there would be “huge and serious consequences for the rail network”. Around 800,000 passengers are expected to be affected over the weekend as the damage is heavy and labour-intensive to repair.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo however insisted that the ‘unacceptable’ sabotage would have "no impact on the ceremony" opening the Paris Olympics on Friday evening. The official also said that the attack had had “no effect on the transport network” within the French capital.

Despite the assurances, there is now a strong possibility that several athletes and tourists will miss the opening ceremony and perhaps more of the event. This includes two German showjumping athletes — Philipp Weishaupt and Christian Kukuk — who were on a train to Paris to join the opening ceremony. They were forced to turn back in Belgium because of the closures and are now set to miss the ceremony.

High-speed rail operator Eurostar said around one in four services across its network linking France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany would be cancelled — including trains from Paris to London. Others would be slower as they will run on regular lines not designed for high-speed trains. Passenger services chief Christophe Fanichet told AFP that there were currently delays of 90 minutes to two hours on services between Paris and the north and east of France.

(With inputs from agencies)