France rail network disrupted by ‘malicious acts’ ahead of 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony

In the hours ahead of the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, France’s high-speed rail network was hit with a “massive attack on a large scale,” a series of arson attacks on fiber-optic cables critical to the operation of high-speed trains in France.

According to reports, nearly a million passengers have been impacted by the series of attacks.

“This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyze the TGV network,” SNCF, the nation’s rail service, told media outlets on Friday.

“SNCF was the victim of several simultaneous malicious acts overnight,” the national train operator said, adding that the attacks affected its Atlantic, northern and eastern lines, at a time of particularly heavy traffic for summer holiday travel as well as the Opening Ceremony for the Paris Games. The southeastern line was not affected as “a malicious act was foiled.” “Arson attacks were started to damage our facilities,” SNCF said, adding that traffic on the affected lines was “heavily disrupted.”

This image from Le Monde depicts the broad extent of the attacks, highlighting how critical arteries into Paris were impacted:

Eurostar, an international operator that operates high-speed trains between Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Brussels via the Channel Tunnel, was also impacted. In a statement the operator noted many cancellations, and offered cancellations and changes free of charge.

“Due to coordinated acts of vandalism 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. Eurostar’s teams are fully mobilised in stations, in the call centres, and onboard to assist and ensure our passengers are fully informed. Customers are being informed via email, SMS and on Eurostar.com • customers can cancel free of charge or be refunded. • customers can modify their journey free of charge.”

Amélie Oudéa-Castera, France’s sports minister, has said it is unclear who carried out arson attacks on France’s high-speed train network.

Speaking to Sky News, the minister said the attacks were ‘probably a large-scale sabotage’ and were likely co-ordinated.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.