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France’s transport system has been plunged into chaos just hours before the Olympics opening ceremony after vandals targeted the country’s high-speed rail network.
The state-owned railway operator SNCF said arsonists had targeted installations along the lines connecting Paris with the country’s west, north and east.
Former French ambassador to Moscow Jean de Gliniasty warned Russia ot the far-left could be responsible for the attack, saying: “We are obviously in a situation of conflict with Russia, and Russia is obviously not going to do anything, and that’s an understatement, to help these Olympic Games be a success.”
Head of national rail operator SNCF Jean-Pierre Faranadou said: “Today, it’s the major [holiday] departures that are under attack…it’s the French who are under attack” as he called the plans of thousands to visit the Games “ruined”.
Travel chaos in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremonyGetty
Passengers wait at London St Pancras for Eurostar services
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French Sports, Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera
Reuters
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera condemned the vandalism. She told BFMTV: “It’s completely appalling…to target the games is to target France.”
SNCF said 800,000 passengers have been impacted by acts of sabotage on train lines. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said: “We are a target. There will be cyberattacks. The key thing is to limit their impact.”
Meanwhile, Eurostar said its rail services between London and Paris had been disrupted by acts of vandalism in France, resulting in several cancellations and longer journey times.
Eurostar said in a statement: “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, July 26. This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half. Several trains have been cancelled.”
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Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station
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Police officers patrol Gare du Nord station after threats against France’s high-speed TGV network
Reuters
There was immediate claim of responsibility and no indication of whether the action was politically related. The organisers of Paris 2024 said it was working closely with the SNCF to assess the situation.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described the acts as criminal. The Paris police chief said he was beefing up security yet further at the capital’s main stations
.At the Gare de L’Est, traveller Corinne Lecocq said her train to Strasbourg on the border with Germany had been cancelled.
She said: “We’ll take the slow line,…I’m on holiday so it’s OK, even if it is irritating to be late.”
French rail officials say several lines have been hit by “malicious acts”
PA
Passengers are pictured at Gare du Nord station after threats against France’s high-speed TGV network
Reuters
Swiss rail operator SBB said train traffic from Switzerland to France is currently not being impacted by disruptions to the rail network in France that took place ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
Meanwhile French transport minister Patrice Vergriete has condemned “malicious acts” that have severely disrupted travel across the country.
Vergriete wrote in a post on X: “Co-ordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend.
“I strongly condemn these criminal actions which will compromise the departures on vacation of many French people. A big thank you to the #SNCF teams, on deck to restore traffic conditions as quickly as possible.”
Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in central London
PA
Security has been high in Paris in the build-up to the historic opening ceremony, in which athletes will travel down the River Seine on a flotilla of boats.
France is rolling out an unprecedented peacetime security operation to secure the event, with more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents deployed. Snipers will be on rooftops and drones keeping watch from the air.
On Sunday, a Russian man, Kirill Gryaznov, was arrested at his flat in Paris accused of being a spy who was part of a plot to disrupt the Games. Russia is officially barred from the Games due to its war in Ukraine, although just over a dozen athletes from the country are being allowed to compete as neutrals.
There was no immediate link between the incidents, which involved fires being laid across the tracks, and Russia or Belarus.
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