Just hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics, officials reported severe disruptions to high-speed rail traffic to the French capital on Friday, describing the cause as “criminal actions” and sabotage, Associated Press (AP) reported. The incidents brought several high-speed lines connecting Paris with the rest of France and neighboring countries to a halt, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said. On BFM television, Vergriete recounted the flight of individuals from the scenes of fires and the finding of incendiary devices at the locations, declaring, “Everything indicates that these are criminal fires.”
As Paris prepared for a parade along the Seine River with heightened security, three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord, and Est, significantly impacting the major Montparnasse station in Paris. Social media videos depicted the station’s hall overwhelmed with travelers.
Following the “massive attack” that disabled the TGV high-speed network, the Paris police prefecture deployed its personnel to the city’s train stations, according to Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez during an interview with France Info television.
The travel between London via the English Channel, to Belgium, and throughout the west, north, and east of France was disrupted by what the French national rail company SNCF described as a series of coordinated overnight incidents.
Although government officials condemned the acts, they mentioned there was no immediate evidence of a direct connection to the Olympics. The national police are investigating the incidents, with French media reporting a significant fire on a busy western route.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said that authorities were assessing the impact on travelers and athletes, ensuring the transportation of all delegations to the Olympic venues. She expressed on BFM television that opposing the Games is tantamount to opposing France itself.
Passengers at St. Pancras station in London were warned to expect delays of around an hour to their Eurostar journeys. Announcements in the departure hall at the international terminus informed travellers heading to Paris that there was a problem with overhead power supplies.
The attack occurred against a backdrop of global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. Many travellers were planning to converge on the capital for the opening ceremony, and many vacationers were also in transit.
SNCF said it did not know when traffic would resume and feared that disruptions would continue “at least all weekend.” SNCF teams “were already on site to carry out diagnostics and begin repairs,” but the “situation should last at least all weekend while the repairs are carried out”, the operator said.
SNCF advised “all passengers to postpone their journey and not to go to the station,” specifying in its press release that all tickets were exchangeable and refundable.
Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of the greater Paris region said “250,000 travellers will be affected today on all these lines”. Substitution plans were underway, but Pecresse advised travellers “not to go to stations”.