How has attack on France's rail network hit transportation? Will it affect the Paris Olympics?

France’s railway lines are reeling from “malicious acts” of vandalism, including arson, that have disrupted travel to Paris from other parts of the country and Europe. This comes just hours ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games along Paris’ River Seine at 7:30 pm local time (11 pm IST).

Several trains have been cancelled or delayed due to what French officials have described as “criminal actions". Eurostar, the high-speed rail operator connecting the United Kingdom and continental Europe, has also been affected by the attacks on France’s train network.

Let’s take a closer look.

What happened?

France’s high-speed rail network faced several “malicious” acts overnight, with vandals carrying out arson attacks.

French rail company SNCF said its installations along the lines connecting Paris with the west, north and east were set on fire.

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“Last night, SNCF was the victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines. Fires were deliberately set to damage our installations,” Sky News cited the railway operator’s statement as saying.

The head of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, called the attacks “premeditated, calculated, coordinated” that had a “desire to seriously harm”.

“For one fire, two destinations were hit,” the company’s CEO told BFMTV.

“Following this massive attack aiming to paralyse the high-speed line network, a large number of trains were diverted or cancelled,” SNCF said, according to CNBC.

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The disruption is expected to affect other domestic and intercity routes.

Train lines such as Atlantique – which connects Paris to Bordeaux, Nord – which takes passengers from Paris to Lille, and Est which links Paris to Strasbourg have been affected, reported BBC.

Farandou said that the disruption would impact 800,000 people across the weekend, with 250,000 travellers affected on Friday.

“We are so sorry to not be able to circulate the trains expected by the French. Today the major departure lines are attacked, an attack on the French,” Farrandou said, according to NBC News’ translation.

“The celebration is spoiled.”

The attacks come when Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympics. It is also the time when Parisians go on their month-long summer holidays.

Corinne Lecocq, a traveller at Paris Gare de L’Est, told Reuters that her train to Strasbourg on the border with Germany had been cancelled. “We’ll take the slow line. I’m on holiday so it’s OK, even if it is irritating to be late.”

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Impact on Eurostar services

Eurostar, which connects the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, has also been affected owing to the disruption on the high-speed line between Paris and Lille.

“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 26 July. This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half,” Eurostar said in a statement.

“Several trains have been cancelled.”

As Eurostar’s services were affected, long queues were seen at St Pancras International station in central London.

The international rail operator has urged passengers to postpone their journeys between London and Paris. “We encourage our customers to postpone their trip if possible,” Eurostar said in a statement.

Two services from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord have been cancelled. The majority of services are still running between the two cities but with a delay of at least an hour, BBC reported.

Who is behind it?

It is still not clear who is responsible for the “coordinated” attacks. The motive is also not yet known.

Prosecutors in Paris have opened a national probe into the rail disruption, warning the crimes could carry prison sentences of 15 to 20 years.

Taking to X, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s intelligence services have been “mobilised” to find the culprits.

He labelled the attacks as “acts of sabotage,” which were “prepared and coordinated.”

Will the Paris Olympics suffer?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president has expressed confidence in French authorities.

Reacting to the attack on the rail network, Thomas Bach told the media at the Olympic Athletes’ Village, “I don’t have concerns. We have full confidence in the French authorities.”

Among the affected passengers are two German athletes in showjumping who were on a train to Paris to participate in the opening ceremony but had to turn back in Belgium due to closures, reported Associated Press.

“There was no longer a chance of making it on time,” rider Philipp Weishaupt, who was travelling with teammate Christian Kukuk, told German news agency dpa.

France’s sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has called it an attack on the “the athletes’ Games,” in an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV.

“These Games are for the athletes who have been dreaming of them for years and fighting for the holy grail of standing on the podium and someone’s sabotaging that for them,” she was quoted as saying by BBC.

She said the Paris 2024 Olympics “have been prepared for so carefully by hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens for almost 10 years”.

As per Sky News, French officials are checking the River Seine ahead of the grand opening ceremony. Thousands of athletes will take boat rides along the River Seine tonight for the event.

With inputs from agencies