PARIS (Dispatches) — French train operator SNCF has announced that the nation’s high-speed rail network has been targeted by “malicious acts,” including arson attacks, causing significant disruptions just before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The coordinated sabotage took place as France mounted a massive security operation involving tens of thousands of police and soldiers to safeguard the capital for the sporting extravaganza, sucking in security resources from across the country.
SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said vandals had damaged signal boxes along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declined to speculate about the possibility of such groups being behind the sabotage.
“What we know, what we see, is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that nerve centers were targeted, which shows a certain knowledge of the network to know where to strike,” he said.
A Franco-Swiss airport was also temporarily evacuated following a bomb threat Friday, hours after arson attacks disrupted the French rail network.
EuroAirport, located on the French side of the border near Basel, said on its website that it had reopened and that flight operations were gradually restarting.
Earlier, the Basel-Mulhouse airport said it had been evacuated and closed “for safety reasons.”
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he had full confidence in the French authorities. “I don’t have concerns,” he told reporters at the Olympic Village.
More than 300,000 spectators were expected to line the banks of the River Seine when the athletes paradeed through the heart of Paris on a flotilla of barges and riverboats, part of an extravagant opening ceremony.
France has deployed 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents to secure the Games’ opening ceremony. Snipers will be on rooftops and drones keeping watch from the air.
Eurostar’s high-speed services linking London and Paris were forced onto slower lines while Germany’s Deutsche Bahn warned of disruption to long-distance services.
The SNCF urged all travelers to postpone their journeys. Repairs were underway but traffic would be severely disrupted until at least the end of the weekend.
The Paris prosecutor opened a probe into a suspected bid to undermine “fundamental national interests”, saying that the crime carries up to 20 years in prison.
The investigation will also probe suspected damage inflicted by an organized gang and attacks on an automated data processing system, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
SNCF urged passengers to postpone their trips and stay away from train stations.
Eurostar also said its rail services between London and Paris had been disrupted by the acts of vandalism, resulting in several cancellations and longer journey times.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said in a post on X that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents”, and that SNCF is working to restore traffic.