France’s rail network hit by arson, canceling trains ahead of Olympics

International rail operator Eurostar said it would cancel a quarter of its services on Friday and the weekend after France’s high-speed rail network faced coordinated acts of vandalism just before the start of the Paris Olympics.

Domestic rail services were also largely disrupted.

French rail operator SNCF said in a statement that its network suffered multiple simultaneous attacks early Friday morning, with a fire destroying its facilities and fiber optic lines. The LGV Atlantique high-speed line between Paris and Bordeaux was hit, along with the northern and eastern lines, causing disruption that SNCF expected to affect hundreds of thousands of people over the weekend.

SNCF he said later that a “very gradual resumption” of services had taken place from 1pm local time in France, with delays continuing across the country’s high-speed rail network. The company is expected to update on the situation later this afternoon.

Eurostar and SNCF advised passengers to delay or cancel travel if possible, offering free journey changes or refunds.

The attacks come shortly before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, which is due to take place along Paris’s Seine River at 7:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET) on Friday. The exhibition will feature tens of thousands of athletes and spectators along with a strong police presence.

Eurostar services, connecting the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, were hit by disruptions on the high-speed line between Paris and Lille in northern France.

Passengers are being diverted to local, slower lines to and from the French capital, extending journey times by around an hour and a half, alongside the cancellations.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergrie condemned what he described as “criminal acts” carried out simultaneously in several locations. Vergiete said at a press conference that an investigation is underway, according to a report by NBC News.

In a briefing on French television, SNCF president Jean-Pierre Faradou said 800,000 people would be affected by the unrest over the weekend.

“We are very sorry that we cannot run the trains expected by the French. Today the major departure lines are under attack, an attack on the French,” Faradou said, as translated by NBC News.

“The celebration is spoiled.”

It was not immediately clear who committed the incident. Faradu said the attacks took place at 4 a.m. in various locations, with fiber optic lines affected and explosive material found at the locations. Thousands of workers will be mobilized to restore the lines, he added.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on social platform X that he was grateful to the firefighters who responded to the affected locations and the SNCF workers who will restore services.

Attal also said he was thinking of all the French people and families preparing to go on holiday and that he shared their anger. Parisians are known to leave the city en masse in August for their summer holidays, with many offices and hospitality venues closing.

French officials have been alerted to a disruption to the Games, with 45,000 police deployed for the opening ceremony, according to Reuters. Tensions are particularly high due to the recent assassination attempt against the former US president Donald Trump, as well as the story of Paris with the deadly terrorist attacks.