Vandals have attacked France's high-speed TGV network in a series of coordinated attacks that have caused major disruption to some of the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
The state rail operator said arsonists had attacked facilities along lines connecting Paris to cities including Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east.
He urged all travellers to postpone their journeys. Repairs were being carried out, but traffic would be severely affected at least until the end of the weekend. Trains were being sent back to their starting points.
“Last night, SNCF was the victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, North and East high-speed lines. Fires were deliberately started to damage our facilities,” SNCF said in a statement.
Coordinated strikes on the rail network will fuel a sense of apprehension ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony in the heart of Paris later on Friday.
France is deploying an unprecedented peacetime security operation to protect the event, with more than 45,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents deployed. There will be snipers on rooftops and drones watching from the air.
There was an immediate claim of responsibility and no indication whether the action was politically related.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete called the acts criminal. The Paris police chief said he was further tightening security at the capital's main stations.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera condemned the vandalism.
“It's absolutely appalling,” he told BFMTV. “To target the Games is to target France.”
At the Gare de L'Est, commuter Corinne Lecocq said her train to Strasbourg, on the border with Germany, had been cancelled.
“We'll take the slow line,” he said. “I'm on vacation, so it's okay, even if it's annoying to be late.”
The Games chief abruptly cancelled a news conference discussing plans for the opening ceremony before it began. The Olympic committee has not commented on the railways.
