Paris, (UNI) Arson attacks on French railways caused widespread delays and cancellations of rail services across Europe on Friday, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.
The French national rail company SNCF reported on Friday morning via X that TGV high-speed train traffic on France’s Atlantic, northern, and eastern routes was severely disrupted due to arson attacks targeting installations.
As a result, 800,000 passengers were affected, with some trains diverted and many others canceled. International travel through the English Channel and to neighboring Belgium was also impacted, with Eurostar canceling 25 percent of its scheduled services and trains from the Netherlands to Paris experiencing delays of an additional 1.5 hours, according to the Dutch railway operator NS.
By Friday afternoon, the disruption had caused delays and cancellations of Eurostar trains departing from London St. Pancras station to Paris Gare du Nord station, with around three trains canceled and another eight delayed as of 4 p.m. London time.
Due to the train cancellations, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer altered his travel plans to France for the Olympic opening ceremony, opting to fly instead of taking the train, as reported by Downing Street.
Despite these attacks, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed that the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday evening would proceed as planned, as the incidents did not affect the transport network in the Paris region, according to French media BFMTV.
Outgoing transport minister Patrice Vergriete told BFMTV on Friday that “all the evidence indicates that these acts were deliberate.” Additionally, outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated on X that “our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”
