France's high-speed rail network paralyzed by 'malicious acts'

The Paris Olympics are set to open in a spectacular and unprecedented ceremony on the river Seine on Friday but hours before the show France's rail network was paralyzed by what officials said were acts of sabotage.

French rail operator SNCF said the country's high-speed network had been targeted by "malicious acts" aimed at bringing the system to a halt.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said it was an "outrageous criminal act" and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera described the attacks as "downright appalling."

Travel warning

Several Eurostar trains between Paris and London were canceled following the attacks, the company said, urging passengers not to travel.

"All trains departing and towards Paris will be diverted onto the normal line on Friday," Eurostar said on its website, meaning they will take an extra 90 minutes on a route that usually takes around two hours and 20 minutes. 

French security forces are searching for people behind the arson attacks, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.

"Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts," Attal posted on X, calling the attacks "prepared and coordinated acts of sabotage against (rail operator) SNCF's installations" with "huge and serious consequences for the rail network."

French security forces have warned for months of the danger of attacks aimed at destabilizing the Games.

Suspicion will fall on Russia, whose team is banned from Paris in response to the Kremlin's offensive in Ukraine. France is seen as a particular target due to its support for Kyiv.

However, far-left groups within France have a history of targeting the rail network with arson attacks.

It will be the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main athletics stadium, a decision fraught with danger at a time when France is on its highest alert for terrorism.

No Plan B

For months, organizers have been dogged by questions about whether they would need to scale back or move the procession, but they had insisted throughout that there was no Plan B.

A huge security perimeter has been erected along both banks of the Seine, guarded around the clock by some of the 45,000 police and paramilitary officers who will be on duty on Friday evening.

Another 10,000 soldiers are set to add to the security blanket along with 22,000 private security guards. 

"Without any doubt, it is much more difficult to secure half of Paris than to secure a stadium, where you have 80,000 people and you can frisk them and send them through turnstiles," Frederic Pechenard, an ex-director general of the French police, told reporters.

Police snipers are set to be positioned on every high point along the route of the river convoy, which is overlooked by hundreds of buildings.

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