CNN – France’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple “malicious” acts including arson on Friday, in what has been described as “coordinated sabotage” to disrupt travel ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
France’s state railways company SNCF called the overnight disruption a “massive attack aimed at paralyzing the high-speed line network.”
In a post on X, SNCF said “a large number of trains were diverted or canceled,” and asked “all travelers who can to postpone their trip and not go to the station.”
The railway operator said the disruption hit Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines, with damage caused to several of its facilities. SNCF said one of the acts was “foiled.”
Travel on these lines is “very disrupted,” with the railway network needing to divert and cancel a large number of trains, SNCF said. Disruptions – which it estimates could impact around 800,000 travelers – were expected throughout the weekend as work crews oversee repairs, it added.
Passengers milled around outside Paris’ Gare du Nord train station and sat with their luggage on staircases as the disruption laid waste to their travel plans. “People are a little exasperated,” Raphaël, a SNCF user who has been waiting for his train at Montparnasse Station in Paris since 6 a.m. local time told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
The Rémi Train Centre Val de Loire said travel on its railway lines would be disrupted until at least Monday, with a fire near the tracks in Courtalain, northern France impacting services to Paris.
Eurostar, the high-speed train service that connects the United Kingdom with France, has been forced to cancel and divert trains due to the “coordinated acts of malice,” on French lines.
In a statement to CNN, Eurostar said that the incidents have impacted travel between Paris and Lille, forcing the train network to divert journeys and extend travel times.
“Due to coordinated acts of malice in France, affecting the high speed line between Paris and Lille, all high speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today Friday 26 July. This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half. Several trains have been cancelled,” the statement outlined.
