A wave of coordinated attacks paralyzed high-speed rail nationwide in France just hours before the start of the Olympic Games.
There is talk of fires set to damage the facilities. The situation of discomfort could last until the weekend.
The French railway company Sncf has suffered a “massive attack” that has paralyzed its “seriously disrupted” network just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. “Several simultaneous malicious acts” have affected three of the four lines of the TGV Atlantic, Nord and Est: “Deliberate fires were set to damage the equipment of the high-speed lines,” the railway group explained in a press release. As a result, high-speed train traffic on these three lines is “very disrupted.” A source close to the matter spoke of acts of “sabotage.” The acts were “obviously concerted,” the source added.
“We are diverting some trains to the classic line, but we will have to cancel a large number of them,” Sncf said. Sncf Réseau teams “are already on site to diagnose the problem and begin repairs,” but the “situation is expected to last at least until the weekend while repairs are carried out,” the operator said. The TGV Sud-Est line, however, “is not affected,” the group said.
The attack comes just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when many travelers plan to converge on the capital. A large number of vacationers are also in transit. “All customers will be informed by text message about the rescheduling of their trains,” the group toldAFPThe operator advises “all travellers to postpone their journey and not to go to the stations”, specifying in the press release that all tickets are exchangeable and refundable.
