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Saboteurs paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics

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Arsonists sabotaged France’s high-speed rail network in a series of coordinated attacks just hours before the Olympics opening ceremony Friday — with athletes among hundreds of thousands left stranded.

Cables were set alight at least three locations at 4 a.m., paralyzing major lines connecting Paris with Lille, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, with a fourth attack on the Paris-Marseille line foiled by night-shift workers.

It ruined travel for at least 250,000 passengers Friday — including those coming from other parts of Europe, such as from the UK on the Eurostar.

Passengers wait for their train departures at the Gare Montparnasse train station in Paris on July 26, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
SNCF employees and French gendarmes inspect the scene of a suspected attack on the high-speed railway network at Croiselles, northern France. AFP via Getty Images
Passengers sit on stairs inside a Paris train station after the high-speed rail network was “paralyzed.” AFP via Getty Images

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators of the “acts of sabotage” which he described as “prepared and coordinated.”

They had “a clear objective: blocking the high-speed train network” ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, Attal said,

“Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country,” Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera said of the attacks.

Nobody took immediate responsibility. However, the modus operandi suggested it was leftist militants or radical eco-warriors, security sources said.

French rail boss Jean-Pierre Farandou blamed it on a “bunch of nutters, of irresponsible people,” according to the Times of London.

France’s acting transport minister, Patrice Vergriete, condemned the “outrageous criminal act” — while acknowledging security forces are “preparing themselves” for other potential attacks.

“We had no specific alert before these planned acts of malice and sabotage,” Vergriete told French TV.

“Today we are on alert, so obviously we have mobilized all security forces, as well as drones, so today we have greatly increased our vigilance.”

The attack occurred against a backdrop of global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. AFP via Getty Images
The incidents paralyzed several high-speed lines linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighboring countries. AFP via Getty Images
SNCF employees and French gendarmes inspect the scene of a suspected attack on the high-speed railway network at Croiselles, northern France, on July 26, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
National police said authorities were investigating the incidents. French media reported a major fire on a busy western route. AFP via Getty Images

The travel disruptions are expected to last “at least all weekend,” warned France’s national rail company, SNCF – likely preventing some athletes from reaching Paris in time for the start of the Olympics.

Among the trains stopped Friday were…

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