Saboteurs carry out a “malicious” arson attack on France’s rail network just hours before the Olympic Games in Paris

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Just hours before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, saboteurs carried out a “malicious” arson attack on the French railway network in an attempt to “destabilize” the country.

Up to 800,000 passengers face travel chaos this weekend as they try to reach Paris following what officials described as “criminal acts” of disruption on high-speed rail services to the French capital ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony.

The head of French railway company SNCF said the “French are under attack” after a series of fires brought trains to a standstill and suspended numerous connections between Paris and the rest of France and neighboring countries. It was a “deliberate, calculated, coordinated attack” that indicated a “desire to cause serious harm to the French people,” added Jean-Pierre Faranadou.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described the impact on the rail network as “massive and serious” and vowed that the authorities would “find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts”. He said the vandals behind the sabotage and arson had a clear aim of strategically attacking the main routes to and from Paris in the run-up to the Games.

Follow our live updates on travel disruptions at the Olympic Games

French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete spoke of a series of “coordinated malicious acts”. He described people fleeing the scene of the fire and the discovery of incendiary devices. “Everything indicates that these are criminal fires,” he added. The national police said the authorities were investigating the incidents.

In addition to disruptions on the Atlantic, North and East lines of the SNCF rail network, French police said a bomb scare forced the evacuation of the Franco-Swiss Basel-Mulhouse airport on Friday following a routine security protocol. However, the airport resumed operations around midday.

A 40-year-old Russian suspected of planning acts of sabotage at the Games was arrested on Wednesday. However, French police have not publicly declared any connection between the Russian national’s arrest and the arson attack. The Kremlin said it needed more information from authorities in Paris on the case.

The city council warned that up to 250,000 passengers could be affected by Friday’s travel disruption. Mr Faranadou told BFMTV he was “absolutely sorry” after the plans of thousands who had hoped to come to Paris for the Games were “ruined”.

Valerie Pecresse, President of the Greater Paris Regional Council, added: “This attack is not a coincidence, but an attempt to destabilise France.”

The 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the largest event ever organized in France. 10,500 athletes will compete and millions of spectators will attend – local reports say 15.3 million visitors. The two-and-a-half-week sports festival includes 32 different disciplines and ends on August 11 after 329 competitions.

As Paris authorities prepared for a parade along the Seine for the opening ceremony amid heightened security, three fires were reported near the tracks of the Atlantique, Nord and Est high-speed lines.

The disruption mainly affected Paris’ main train station, Montparnasse. Videos posted on social networks showed the station hall packed with passengers.

The Paris police prefecture has “concentrated its personnel in Paris train stations” following the “massive attack” that paralyzed the TGV high-speed train network, the city’s police chief, Laurent Nunez, told the television channel France Info.

Sarah Moseley, 42, said at the Gare du Nord in the French capital that the disruption was “a hell of a start to the Olympics” as she tried to travel to London. Meanwhile, Adam Wigley was one of the Brits who endured delays as he tried to reach Paris for the opening ceremony. The 28-year-old from Norfolk feared he would have to “rush” to get to the event on time after his journey to Paris was delayed by at least an hour.

Travel to and from London was affected, across the English Channel to neighbouring Belgium and through the west, north and east of France.

The company announced that one in four Eurostar trains would be cancelled on Friday and at the weekend. Passengers at London’s St. Pancras station should therefore expect delays of 90 minutes.

The SNCF said the arsonists had targeted areas at railway crossings to double the impact.

Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said authorities were working to “assess the impact on travellers and athletes and ensure the transport of all delegations to the competition venues” for Paris 2024.

Speaking on BFM television, she added: “Playing against the Games means playing against France, against your own camp, against your own country.”

Sir Keir Starmer changed his travel plans after describing the situation as “worrying” and “incredibly frustrating” for people travelling to the Olympics. A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister had been due to travel to Paris on the Eurostar ahead of the opening ceremony but flew to France instead due to the disruptions and delays.

The British Olympic Association confirmed that only two athletes were scheduled to arrive on Friday and that there had therefore been minor delays.

The SNCF asked all travellers to postpone their journeys and not to go to the train stations. Repair work is underway but traffic will be severely affected at least until the end of the weekend, the operator said.

The attacks came amid global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepares for the Games.

More than 300,000 spectators are expected to line the banks of the Seine on Friday as the athletes parade through the heart of Paris on a flotilla of barges and riverboats. The parade is part of an extravagant opening ceremony watched by a global audience.

France is deploying 45,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security guards to secure the games, as well as snipers on the roofs and drones conducting aerial surveillance.