Search for vandals continues: Trains cancelled in France

Three out of ten French high-speed trains will be cancelled on Saturday on routes affected by a series of “coordinated” arson attacks.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said security forces were continuing to search for the “saboteurs” responsible after the railway network was brought to a standstill ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games.

The national railway company SNCF said there would be delays of up to two hours on the main routes to and from Paris when trains run on Saturday. A quarter of Eurostar trains will also be cancelled.

The French transport minister said traffic would return to normal by Monday morning.

The SNCF estimated that around 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday, while Deputy Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said up to 800,000 passengers could be affected within three days.

Eurostar, which operates international services from London to Paris and uses a high-speed line in France, said one in four trains would not run over the weekend.

Travellers have been advised to postpone their trips as disruptions are expected to last until Monday.

Among the Eurostar customers affected on Friday was Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who wanted to travel by train to the opening ceremony of the Games but had to change to a plane instead.

He told the BBC: “I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t frustrating, because it was, and for a lot of people it made travelling a lot more difficult.”

The SNCF said there was no announcement yet regarding the damage.

The company said its employees had “worked all night in difficult conditions in the rain” to repair the damage.

As part of the “strategic” vandalism, cable boxes at intersections of the North, Brittany and Southwest lines were set on fire, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was due to begin in the capital.

Government officials said saboteurs had cut and set fire to special fiber optic cables that are essential for the safe operation of the rail network.

A source close to the investigation told AFP news agency that the operation was “well prepared” and organized by “a single structure.”

Railway workers thwarted an attempt to destroy safety equipment on a fourth line.

“At this point in time, there will continue to be traffic disruptions on the northern axis on Sunday, but on the Atlantic axis, connections for return journeys should improve again at the weekend,” said a railway spokesman on Saturday morning.