Hours ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris, France’s high-speed rail network has been hit by “malicious acts” which have caused service disruptions.
French rail company SNCF said in a statement last night that it was a victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines.
It noted that arson attacks were started to damage deliberately set to damage its installations.
It noted that following this massive attack aimed at paralysing the high-speed line network, a large number of trains were diverted or cancelled.
Hours ahead of the Opening Ceremony, travellers have been asked to postpone their trip and not to go to the station.
Travel to and from London, to neighbouring Belgium and across the west, north and east of France was affected by the incident.
Eurostar has notified warning on its alerts, advising passengers that “due to a problem with the overhead power supply in France today, we advise you to postpone your trip as your train is likely to be delayed due to infrastructure issues“.
It has been revealed that one in four (25 per cent) Eurostar trains will be cancelled on Friday and over the weekend.
The majority of Team GB athletes were arriving at the Games via Eurostar. Despite that, the British Olympic Association confirmed that only two athletes were scheduled to arrive on Friday and had been subject to only minor delays.
The spokeswoman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the situation was “concerning” and “incredibly frustrating”. Adding: “He would urge people to continue to follow the travel advice and the statements from the travel operators.”
In a post on social media, the Minister for Transport Patrice Vergriete posted in French that he strongly condemned the criminal actions.
While French prime minister Gabriel Attal told press that there will be “massive consequences,” with “hundreds of thousands” of people stuck while trying to visit Paris for the Games or holidays.
According to the Paris Bureau Chief, for The Economist Sophie Pedder, the Paris public prosecutor has opened an inquiry into acts that “harm the nation’s fundamental interests”.
The 2024 Olympics are set to kick off in Paris later today with an anticipated 10,000 athletes from around the world expected to parade through the host’s capital.
