People watch a rugby match between France and Fiji in a street cafe during the 2024 Summer Olympics on Thursday.
Martin Meissner/AP
hide title
Switch title
Martin Meissner/AP
PARIS – High-speed trains across France were hit by a number of “malicious acts” on Friday, according to national railway company SNCF, causing severe disruption to traffic on the day of the high-stakes opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
The SNCF said a coordinated series of overnight events was affecting travel to and from London below the English Channel, neighboring Belgium and western, northern and eastern France.
Government officials condemned the incidents across France hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, but there was no immediate indication that they were linked to the Olympics.
National police said authorities were investigating what happened. French media reported a fire on a busy western shipping route.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete posted on X that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents” and that SNCF is working to restore traffic.
Sports Minister Amélie Udia-Castela said authorities were working “to assess the impact on tourists, athletes and ensure that all delegations travel to Olympic venues”. “To compete with the Olympics is to compete with France, to compete with your own camp, to compete with your own country,” she told BFM television, without revealing who was behind the vandalism.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez, speaking on France Info radio, said he would send police reinforcements to train stations overcrowded by the SNCF incident.
Passengers at London St Pancras station have been warned that Eurostar journeys can be expected to be delayed by around an hour. An announcement in the departure hall of the International Terminal informed passengers bound for Paris that there was a problem with the overhead power supply.
