Hours before Olympic opening ceremony, France’s high-speed rail network damaged by series of ‘malicious acts’

High-speed trains around France have been hit by several “malicious acts,” causing traffic to be heavily disrupted on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics,  according to the national rail company SNCF.

Travel to and from London beneath the English Channel, to neighboring Belgium, and across the west, north and east of France were affected by what SNCF says was a series of coordinated overnight incidents.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete says in a post on X that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents,” and that SNCF is working to restore traffic.

There was no immediate sign of a link to the Olympic Games and national police say authorities are investigating what happened.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera says authorities are working to “evaluate the impact on travelers, athletes, and ensure the transport of all delegations to the competition sites” for the Olympics. Speaking on BFM television, she says, “Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country,” but doesn’t identify who was behind the vandalism.