FRANCE’S high-speed rail network was hit Friday with widespread and “criminal” acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralysing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe, and thwarting Olympic athletes from travel, only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Games. French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years. “It’s a hell of a way to start the Olympics,” said Sarah Moseley, a 42-year-old traveller waiting at the Gare du Nord station in Paris as she learned that her train to London was delayed by the rail chaos. As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River, three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travellers. Among them were Olympic athletes themselves. Two out of four trains carrying Olympic athletes to Paris on the western Atlantique high-speed line were stopped hours before the opening ceremony, affected by the coordinated sabotage on the tracks, an official from the French railway operator SNCF said Friday. Also, two German athletes in showjumping who were on a train to Paris to take part in the opening ceremony but had to turn back in Belgium because of the closures, and will now miss the ceremony, German news agency dpa reported.

 

“There was no longer a chance of making it on time,” rider Philipp Weishaupt, who was travelling with teammate Christian Kukuk, told dpa. There were no known reports of injuries from the attacks. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s intelligence services have been mobilised to find the perpetrators of the “acts of sabotage” which he described as “prepared and coordinated.” Attal said that the actions on the eve of the Olympics had “a clear objective: blocking the high-speed train network.” He said the vandals strategically targeted the axes from the north, east and west toward Paris hours before the Olympics opening ceremony. It was “a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack” that indicates “a desire to seriously harm” the French people, the CEO of the national railway company SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, said. “The places were especially chosen to have the most serious impact, since each fire cut off two lines,” Farandou said. Farandou said railway maintenance workers managed to thwart a suspected sabotage attempt along tracks heading south-east of Paris. Workers on the night shift spotted intruders and alerted police, Farandou said. “These people left, of course, very quickly when they realised they were spotted. So, thank you to the railway workers,” Farandou said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it everywhere.”

 

Farandou said repairs were being made as police conducted forensic examinations and searched for the perpetrators. France’s Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said train traffic was beginning to resume in the afternoon, especially on the Atlantique line, which had been completely halted. “At Montparnasse station and Bordeaux station, which were the most affected, we should find one in three trains running this afternoon. Things are already improving,” he said. The attack occurred against the 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. Earlier this week, France’s interior minister said about 1,000 people suspected of possibly meddling for a foreign power have been blocked from attending the games.

 

Although he has repeatedly pointed to suspicions of Russia-backed interference, Gerald Darmanin added that such threats have also come from other countries that he did not name. Among those blocked were people suspected of Islamic radicalisation or left- or right-wing political extremism, or who had significant criminal records, Darmanin said. The coordinated train line attacks targeted remote locations far from the capital as 35,000 police officers are being deployed in Paris each day for the Olympics, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony. French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the Olympics, including arresting a Russian man on suspicion of planning to destabilise the games. Paris has been the target of deadly terror attacks in the past decade, and some French officials saw hosting the Olympic Games as a chance for the nation to heal from years of trauma.