Just hours before the highly anticipated opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, a coordinated series of arson attacks on high-speed rail lines threw the French capital’s transport system into chaos on Friday. (More Sports News)
These acts of vandalism have severely disrupted the French rail operator SNCF’s network, causing widespread delays and cancellations that have affected thousands of passengers.
The attacks targeted critical cabling boxes at strategic junctions North, South-West, and East of Paris. These carefully chosen locations ensured maximum disruption to the rail network. The first three attacks were successful, causing significant damage, while a fourth attempted act of vandalism in the South-East was thwarted by vigilant rail workers who noticed the intruders in the early hours of Friday morning.
The most significant impact has been on the Gare Montparnasse station in Paris, a major hub for travellers. Services on the Paris-Tours and Paris-Le Mans routes have been halted in both directions, with SNCF indicating that disruptions will continue "at least over the weekend."
As a result, services from Montparnasse on Friday are limited between Paris and south-west France, Brittany, and Pays-de-la-Loire. Passengers are being advised to postpone their journeys if possible.
The scale of the attack is immense, with French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete stating on social media platform X, "Coordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend."
He condemned the criminal actions, which have jeopardized the vacation plans of many French citizens, and expressed gratitude to SNCF teams working to restore normal traffic conditions as swiftly as possible.
Fortunately, the southeastern rail lines were not affected, as the attempted sabotage there was foiled. Therefore, trains towards Lyon, the Alps, and the Provence-Alps-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region are operating as usual. However, SNCF has urged passengers to postpone their trips and avoid train stations in light of the ongoing disruptions.
The motives behind these coordinated acts of vandalism remain unclear. However, they occur against a backdrop of global geopolitical tensions, including Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza and Russia's territorial advances in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron had called for an “Olympic truce” during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a plea for peace that seems to have gone unheeded.
