Paris Olympics hit by coordinated arson attacks across high speed train network

Caption: Passengers gather around the departure boards at the Gare Montparnasse train station in Paris on July 26 (Picture: AFP)

France’s rail network has been ‘paralysed’ by a series of co-ordinated arsons – right at the start of the Olympic Games today – affecting at least 800,000 people.

Flames engulfed train tracks at ‘strategic points’ across the country – with hours to go before the Opening Ceremony on the River Seine in Paris.

Gare du Nord, where the Eurostar stops in Paris, is also affected by the attacks on the rail network, said a spokesperson for SNCF, the national state-owned railway company in the country.

‘Numerous stations are affected, including Garde du Nord, with services across France cancelled or delayed,’ he said.

Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in central London (Picture: PA Wire)

Passengers at London St Pancras, where Eurostar runs trains direct to France, confirmed its trains would be delayed today due to the ongoing issues over the Channel.

Thousands of people from the UK are due to travel to Paris by rail today, for the start of the Olympics.

Trains to neighbouring Belgium and to London under the English Channel have also been affected, with warnings for people to delay their travel.

Yo and Beatrix, who are returning to their home in Antwerp after a romantic two-day getaway in Paris, are among the hundreds of people stranded at Gare du Nord. The couple have stationed themselves in front of the schedule board and are watching the delay of their Eurostar to Amsterdam grow – 20 minutes, then 30 and now 50.

Armed with all the patience in the world, they are still waiting for an update from Eurostar.

Speaking to Metro UK about the delays, Yo criticised how the disruptions are being handled. He said: ‘We have received zero updated. Nil. We have to go back today as it is Beatrix’ birthday on Sunday and we have a lot of family travelling to Antwerp to celebrate with us. I have experience travelling with Eurostar for business and this does not surprise me at all. It has happened before.’

Maxi and her 12-year-old daughter Iva are in a similar situation. Their train to Cologne was supposed to depart at 9.55am Paris time, but it has now been delayed by another hour and a half.

The mum fears that the delays will continue throughout the day. But she keeps positive, telling Metro UK: ‘At least it is not a terrorist attack.’ Maxi has already looked at the price of renting a car to drive to Cologne but it starts at 1,000 euros.

Eurostar said in a statement: ‘Due to coordinated acts of malice in France, affecting the high speed line between Paris and Lille, all high speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today, Friday, July 26.

‘This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half. Several trains have been cancelled.’

Lines in the west, north and east of France were also targeted, resulting in chaos.

Beyond the opening ceremony in Paris, transport minister Patrice Vergriete said the ‘criminal actions will compromise the holiday departures of many French people.’

A general view of an alert received via the RSA Travel Assistance app, on a mobile phone in Paris (Picture: PA Wire)

According to SNCF a massive attack on a large scale hit the TGV network and many routes will have to be cancelled. SNCF urged passengers to postpone their trips and stay away from train (Picture: Getty)

Teams are ‘on site to carry out the diagnosis and begin repairs’ on train lines, but the disruptions ‘should last at least all weekend’.

Amélie Oudéa-Castera, France’s sports minister, has said it is unclear who carried out arson attacks on France’s high-speed train network.

Speaking to Sky News, the minister said the attacks were ‘probably a large-scale sabotage’ and were likely co-ordinated.

The minister refused to rule out Russian interference, but said it was also possible French nationals had carried out the attacks.

‘I have a little bit of anger. We are not going to let ourselves be destabilised by this,’ Oudéa-Castera told the broadcaster.

She said the perpetrators were ‘playing against the side of the athletes, who have been working so hard, for so many years’, and that the Opening Ceremony this evening would be fine as the government had ‘anticipated everything’.

At least 800,000 have been affected by the series of attacks.

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