Three out of ten French high-speed trains will be canceled on Saturday due to a series of “coordinated” arson attacks. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated that security forces are actively searching for the “saboteurs” responsible for paralyzing rail networks just ahead of the Olympic Games opening.
The national rail company SNCF announced that services on major lines running in and out of Paris will be delayed by up to two hours, while a quarter of Eurostar services will also be canceled. Transport Minister confirmed that services are expected to return to normal by Monday morning.
Despite no claim of responsibility for the attacks, SNCF reported that its staff worked through the night under challenging conditions to repair the damage. The “strategic” vandalism involved setting cabling boxes on the North, Brittany, and South-West lines alight just hours before the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony in the capital.
Saboteurs cut and set fire to specialized fiber optic cables essential for the rail network’s safe operation, according to government officials. An investigation source told AFP that the operation was “well-prepared” and organized by “a single structure.” Rail workers managed to thwart an attempt to destroy safety equipment on a fourth line.
“Traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns,” said an SNCF spokesman on Saturday morning. The company estimated that about 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday, with junior transport minister Patrice Vergriete stating that as many as 800,000 could be impacted over three days.
Eurostar, which runs international services from London to Paris and uses a high-speed line in France, announced that one in four of its trains would not run over the weekend. Travelers have been advised to postpone their journeys, with disruption expected to last until Monday.
Among those affected was Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who had planned to travel to the Games’ opening ceremony by train but was forced to fly instead.
