Massive attack on the French rail network causes travel chaos ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony

PARIS – A few hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday, part of France’s high-speed rail network was paralyzed by a “massive attack”. This disrupted operations for hundreds of thousands of passengers, officials said.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the country’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies had been mobilized to track down suspects, warning in a post on X that “the consequences for the rail network are massive and serious.”

French state-owned railway company SNFC said in a press release that a series of “coordinated” arson attacks had damaged numerous of its facilities and services, while another “malicious act had been foiled” on the LGV Sud-Est line between Paris and Lyon.

An update said the incident was a “massive attack” and that at least 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday, with an expected 800,000 over the weekend. A large number of services had to be cancelled, it said. Affected passengers were warned to postpone their travel plans and “not go to the station”.

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Jean-Pierre Farandou, chairman and CEO of SNCF, told reporters that fiber optic cables had caught fire at at least three sites. The cables were connected to signal boxes and other rail infrastructure, he said.

The attacks appeared to be coordinated and intended to cause massive disruption to the country’s railway network, he added.

The Paris public prosecutor’s office said in a press release that an investigation had been launched. The charges include damage to property likely to harm fundamental national interests. The charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine of 225,000 euros (around $244,200).

French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete also spoke to X, saying that several lines had been affected by “coordinated malicious acts” and that there would be “serious traffic disruptions” until the weekend.

In comments broadcast by French broadcaster BFMTV, Vergriete later said the disruptions appeared to have occurred simultaneously and were caused intentionally. It was unclear who might be responsible.

One passenger, 23-year-old Maëliss Davy, said she had planned to travel from Paris to Nantes, a city in the western French region of Haute-Bretagne, on Saturday for a friend’s birthday, but was surprised to receive a message on the SNCF app saying her train was delayed due to an “act of vandalism”.

Her train was later canceled entirely, she told NBC News about X. “Fortunately, I was able to book a train for tomorrow morning at a station on the outskirts of Paris,” Davy said. But she added that Gare Montparnasse station was full of confused, tired “and quite impatient” passengers whose travel plans were also affected.

Richard Engel, chief foreign correspondent for NBC News, witnessed great confusion at Gare Montparnasse. The bustling crowd of passengers appeared calm but anxiously awaited news and answers about their travel delays.

SNCF said it was working to restore services following the incident and asked passengers to postpone their travel plans and “not go to the station.” All tickets were exchangeable and refundable and passengers would be informed of updates via SMS.

In the early afternoon, train traffic at one of Europe’s most important hubs, the Gare du Nord, seemed to be back to normal.

SNFC trains could be seen coming and going regularly, and the arrival/departure monitors always showed the message “on time”.

Separately, Eurostar said in a statement on its website that all high-speed trains between Paris and the northwestern city of Lille would be diverted from the express line to the slower, classic line.

The company said it had mobilized teams at stations, call centers and on board trains to assist passengers and provide them with up-to-date information.

Nancy Ing reported from Paris and Chantal Da Silva from London

This article first appeared on ^ “NBCNews.com”.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.