Hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, France’s high-speed train network was deliberately disrupted by a co-ordinated series of attacks.
Despite a massive security operation, involving tens of thousands of troops and police, vandals were able to target installations along the rail lines connecting major cities such as Lille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg with Paris.
As a result, the railway operator issued a statement urging travellers to delay thei journeys, as repairs were expected to cause severe disruptions in rail traffic at least until the end of the weekend.
Trains were being rerouted back to their initial points of departure as authorities worked to address the damage caused by the acts of vandalism.
"Last night, the SNCF was victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines. Fires were deliberately set to damage our installations," the SNCF said in a statement.
The coordinated strikes on the rail network will feed into a sense of apprehension ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in the heart of Paris later on Friday.
France is rolling out an unprecedented peacetime security operation to secure the event, with more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents deployed. Snipers will be on rooftops and drones keeping watch from the air.
Paris 2024 said it was working closely with the SNCF to assess the situation.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no indication of whether the action was politically related.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described the acts as criminal. The Paris police chief said he was beefing up security yet further at the capital's main stations.
Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera condemned the vandalism.
"It's completely appalling," she told BFMTV. "To target the games is to target France."
At the Gare de L'Est, traveller Corinne Lecocq said her train to Strasbourg on the border with Germany had been cancelled.
"We'll take the slow line," she said. "I'm on holiday so it's OK, even if it is irritating to be late."
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