Employees of SNCF railway company speak to passengers at the Strasbourg train station in Strasbourg on July 26, 2024 as France's high-speed rail network was hit by malicious acts. GETTY IMAGES

France's high-speed rail network was hit by "malicious acts" disrupting the transport system, train operator SNCF said Friday, hours before the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. The state-owned company has warned rail passengers who can postpone their trip to do so.

SNCF called the reportedly coordinated disruptions a "massive attack aimed at paralysing the high-speed line network." The attacks —including arson and cutting crucial— hit Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines, damaging several of its facilities. SNCF said one of the acts on the southeastern line was "foiled."



"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," the SNCF told Agence France-Presse, adding that many routes would have to be cancelled and the situation would last "at least all weekend while repairs are conducted".

The Rémi Train Centre Val de Loire said travel on its railway lines would be disrupted until at least Monday, with a fire near the tracks in Courtalain impacting services to Paris. Eurostar also said its rail services between London and Paris had been disrupted by the acts of vandalism, resulting in several cancellations and longer journey times.

"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. Several trains have been cancelled," Eurostar said in a statement.

Around 800,000 passengers are affected, including French holiday-makers who were intending to travel on what is one of the major departure weekends of the summer holidays. At Montparnasse station in Paris, dozens of passengers were waiting for more information about their trips after delays of 30 minutes to almost two hours were announced.

"We expected it to be a bit chaotic in Paris with the opening ceremony scheduled for this evening, but we didn't think it could be this bad," said 27-year-old student Jocelyn, who had planned to travel to Bretagne.



In response to the attacks, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said Friday that police are stepping up security and focusing manpower on the capital’s train stations. The French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, said the organisation will "assess the impacts on travellers, athletes, and ensure the proper transport of all delegations to the competition sites".

The Paris Olympic Games kick-off with the opening ceremony at 19:30 CEST.