On Friday, just before the commencement of the Paris Olympics, the French high-speed train network was attacked in a coordinated manner, with the saboteurs targeting main routes leading to Paris from the north, east, and west. Eurostar announced the cancellation of a quarter of its services, affecting the travels of 800,000 people over the weekend. The French Prime Minister described it as an “organized” attack.
This incident has heightened security concerns for the Paris Olympics. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday evening at 7:30 local time and is expected to last less than 4 hours. Before dawn on Friday, saboteurs launched a series of attacks on the French high-speed train network (TGV), causing chaos on the country’s busiest rail network just before the Olympics. This will be a significant disruption for the hundreds of thousands of travelers heading to Paris to watch the Olympics or for vacation.
The French national railway company SNCF stated that around 250,000 people will be affected just on Friday, with a total impact on 800,000 people over the weekend.
As of 3:30 pm local time on Friday, there have been no reports of casualties due to the sabotage activities.
Eurostar announced that a quarter of its train services across the network will be canceled on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
“We encourage customers to postpone their journeys whenever possible,” Eurostar said in a statement.
The company earlier stated that “coordinated malicious acts” in France led to the cancellation of multiple train services, forcing trains in and out of Paris to use slower routes.
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera condemned the attacks in the strongest terms, emphasizing that “to fight against the Olympics is to fight against France, against your camp, against your country.”
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of France stated that the series of attacks on the French high-speed rail was “prepared and organized.”
“This operation was prepared and coordinated, targeting key areas. It shows that the saboteurs have a certain understanding of the (railway) network, knowing where to strike,” he said, adding that the saboteurs had a clear goal of disrupting the high-speed train network.
The German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn stated that due to the sabotage of the French high-speed rail network, trains between Germany and France were canceled or delayed in the short term.
German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said Germany strongly condemns these acts in the strongest terms.
This railway network sabotage has raised concerns about the security of the Olympics. To ensure the safety of the opening ceremony on Friday evening, France will deploy 45,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers, and 2,000 private security personnel.
Snipers will be positioned on rooftops, and drones will conduct surveillance in the air.
Prime Minister Attal of France stated on the social media platform X, “Our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies have been mobilized to identify and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”
The Paris public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into this “premeditated sabotage.”
SNCF Chairman Jean-Pierre Farandou stated that thousands of railway workers have been deployed to repair the damages.
Footage from BFM TV showed over a dozen SNCF workers in orange uniforms inspecting damaged cables on the railroad tracks that were cut and burned in the northern French village of Croisilles. There were six or seven police officers present at the scene.
This incident has left hundreds of thousands of people stranded at stations. SNCF urged all passengers to postpone their journeys. While repair work is underway, traffic will still be severely affected, at least until the end of the weekend.
SNCF reported that signal devices on the Atlantic, northern, and eastern high-speed lines were attacked, with saboteurs using explosive devices to ignite fires.
Nevertheless, the opening ceremony of the Olympics will proceed as planned. French Sports Minister Oudéa-Castera stated that the organizers of the Olympics will ensure that all delegations can reach the competition venues.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told reporters on Friday that he has “full confidence” in the French authorities and has no concerns about the security of the Olympics.
“We are taking all measures, and the French authorities have the assistance of 180 other intelligence agencies worldwide. They are not only providing information, some have even deployed human resources, so we have every reason to be confident.”
(This article referenced reports from Reuters, AP, and CNN.)