France foiled four plots to sabotage Olympics

Today’s live coverage has ended. Here’s a roundup of the day’s events: 

• High-speed trains around France were hit by several “coordinated acts of malice” on Friday that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
• The French sports minister vowed not to let the attacks ruin the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
• Saboteurs had knowledge of the railway network, the French prime minister said.
• French intelligence said anarchists or extreme Left-wing groups could have been behind the attacks.
• Israel suggested Iran could be responsible for the attacks. 

Fibre optic cables sabotaged in three arson attacks on the French high-speed rail network will need to be “reconnected one by one”, the CEO of SNCF, France’s state-owned national railway company, said. 

Jean-Pierre Farandou went on to explain that SNCF will need to carry out a complex and painstaking job to repair the damaged cables over the weekend.

“We need to find all the experts … who have the capacity to repair, as well as the tools and parts, since we’re talking about technical cables that aren’t the kind of cables you find everywhere,” Franck Dubourdieu, another French railway official, said. 

 “We’re in the process of bringing them in from different parts of France to be able to repair them as quickly as possible,” he added. 

French media said that the sabotaged cables were used to transmit safety information to train drivers. 

Emmanuel Macron assured business leaders including Elon Musk that France would not descend into chaos just hours before saboteurs brought the country’s rail network to a standstill.

At a private lunch in the Elysee Palace, the French president told Mr Musk and around 40 other senior global executives that the country would remain economically stable and a positive place to invest.

His pledge of stability came before sabotage attacks paralysed France’s high-speed rail network ahead of the high-profile Olympics opening ceremony.

You can read the full story here. 

SNCF, France’s national state-owned railway company, has said it is ramping up security to enable trains to run tomorrow. 

The company said 1,000 workers, 40 railway police teams and 50 drones would be deployed to monitor the rail network. 

A statement read: “In coordination with the forces of law and order, surveillance of the network has been stepped up on the ground and in the air, using both human and technical resources.” 

Three of the country’s four high-speed lines were hit by arson attacks on Friday, impacting hundreds of thousands of travellers hours before the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris.

Amelie Oudéa-Castéra, the French sports minister, has vowed not to let Friday’s coordinated sabotage attack on France’s high-speed rail network ruin the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

“We’re not going to let ourselves be destabilised: we had anticipated all these scenarios … they’re not going to spoil the party by doing this,” Ms Oudéa-Castéra told reporters. 

The opening ceremony will take place outside a closed stadium for the first time in the history of the modern Olympics, with an open-air parade of 160 boats sailing almost 4 miles down the River Seine through the heart of Paris.

The then-head of the Paris police said the Seine plan was “madness” in 2021, but Emmanuel Macron, the French president, lauded the decision earlier this week. 

“At the beginning, it seemed to be a crazy … but we decided it was the right moment to deliver this crazy idea and make it real,” Mr Macron said. 

The show begins at 6.30pm UK time. 

Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, has condemned attacks on the French railway network that took place hours before the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony. 

In a post on social media, Mr Scholz said: “The attacks on railway lines and railway facilities in France are to be absolutely condemned. 

“Disrupting a celebration of peace such as the Olympic Games with acts of violence is unacceptable.

“I hope that the French authorities will soon identify the perpetrators.”

Kitty Mason, who is travelling to Versailles to see an equestrian event tomorrow, only found out that her 4:31pm service was cancelled when she arrived at St Pancras at 2:45pm.

Describing the queue to get another ticket, she said: “There were quite a lot of people in different queues and it was particularly clear where you should stand.

“There were some people who had bought tickets, but because of the congestion, they had missed that train and had to go back and get another ticket.”

Ms Mason, who chose to go to the Olympics to mark her upcoming 70th birthday, was eventually able to buy a ticket for a train leaving at around 5:30pm.

She said: “If all goes well I should get to Versailles at around 9:45pm - I was meant to get there at 7:45pm.

“But it all depends on whether there are trains from Paris to Versailles, as just about everything seems to be affected at the moment.” 

Gabriel Attal, the French prime minister, said saboteurs responsible for the attacks on French railway lines “knew where to hit” and that they had “knowledge of the network”. 

“What we know, what we can see is that this operation has been planned, coordinated, that key points have been targeted which shows a kind of knowledge of the [train] network,” Mr Attal told journalists. 

“They knew where to hit. I can’t say more on the culprits and their motives,” he added. 

Three high-speed rail lines were hit by arson attacks on Friday morning, impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Paris did not inform Moscow about the arrest of a Russian national suspected of a “plot to sabotage the Olympics”, the Kremlin said. 

The man was detained on Sunday in Paris and later placed in custody, but Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press secretary, told journalists that France had not directly informed Russian officials.

“We have no information. We saw media reports... Our embassy in Paris should have been informed of the detention. We hope the information will be provided to them,” Mr Peskov said. 

French prosecutors said the man was suspected of “passing intelligence to a foreign power in order to arouse hostilities in France”, an act punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

On Thursday, the suspect was revealed to be Kirill Gryaznov, 40, a Russian reality TV star turned Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who had lived in France for 14 years.

Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, told the press that the sabotage had no “direct consequence on the organisation of the Olympic Games”. 

The athletes had not been affected, he added: “Either their train is running, or we have found alternative means.”

David Lappartient, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, also said that he was not aware of disruption impacting those participating in the Games. 

“Many athletes have already arrived, to my knowledge [there are no] athletes blocked by this,”  Mr Lappartient said.

Games volunteer Cecile Coleman was meant to pick up her accreditation for her role in Paris at midday tomorrow.

But shortly before 2pm she received a text from Eurostar informing her that the 4:31pm service she was due to travel on today was cancelled.

Fortunately, Ms Coleman was able to use her travel insurance to book herself onto another train tomorrow at around 6pm.

However, she will still need to contact staff organising accreditation to ensure she can carry out the process in the evening.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Ms Coleman, 52, said: “I am meant to be looking after the athletes once they have been presented with their medals. 

“I was a bit disappointed [to get the text], but fortunately, I was able to sort it out with my insurance.”

Ms Coleman, a French national, added: “I’ll have to reorganise everything in terms of picking up accreditation, but I’m sure I won’t be the only one who is in this position.”

Matthieu Chabanel, head of SNCF Réseau, which runs the infrastructure for France’s national state-owned railway, provided more details about the acts of sabotage, saying cables were burned and then cut.

“Fifty cables of 10 wires each makes 500 cables to reconnect linked to installations that are essential for safety, such as signalling,” he told Le Monde. “Several hundred people are currently working continuously to re-establish train circulation.”

“Our technical systems detected the sabotage at around 4am, which enabled them to manage in total safety the circulation of trains, notably by cancelling those likely to become blocked,” he added.

Rail teams were swiftly dispatched to “proceed with diagnostics and start repairs” that are likely to take all weekend at least.

Sir Keir Starmer had to change his travel plans after French rail networks were hit by what has been described as “co-ordinated acts of sabotage”. 

A Downing Street spokesman said that Sir Keir was meant to travel on the Eurostar to Paris ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, but flew to France instead due to the disruption. 

The Prime Minister earlier said that we would not let the travel disruption “overshadow” the Olympic Games. 

Noah Price, international director at security firm G4S, said: “Today’s sabotage of the French rail network demonstrates a critical vulnerability in infrastructure protection. The co-ordinated nature of these attacks, targeting multiple points simultaneously, indicates sophisticated planning and potentially insider knowledge. 

“With the authorities focused on the centre of Paris, the culprits have found the path of least resistance, these incidents exploited traditional vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for comprehensive security approaches. 

“This serves as a stark reminder that we must remain vigilant: this could be a diversionary tactic and there could be follow-up attacks.”

A Eurostar passenger who found out his 4.31pm train was cancelled less than two hours ago, has given up on seeing tickets for a boxing event tomorrow.

Toby Morris was given the Olympic tickets by a friend as a gift - along with £250 tickets to Paris.

However Eurostar staff have told him he will not be able to get another train today.

Speaking to The Telegraph shortly before 2pm, Mr Morris said: “I saw a notification on my phone about an hour and a half ago, but then the live timetable wasn’t updated.

“I thought I’d come here to try my chances, but they’ve said I definitely can’t get on another train today - so I just won’t be able to go now.

“I was only ever going to go for this weekend.”

Railway unions have condemned what they called a “blow” to national rail’s “public service” following the sabotage of installations on the high-speed train (TGV) network, which severely affected traffic.

In a joint statement, they said: “The CGT Cheminots, UNSA-Ferroviaire, SUD-Rail and CFDT Cheminots trade union federations condemn this blow to the SNCF public service and offer their full support to the railway workers mobilised to restore rail traffic as quickly as possible, as well as to the railway workers mobilised in stations and on trains to inform and guide users who have been severely affected.”

SNCF released footage of rail engineers repairing the damaged signal boxes and cables.

“Our teams are hard at work repairing the damage caused by arson in the signaling stations of the impacted LGV lines. Here in the Courtalain substation (28), the cables in each electrical cabinet are replaced and tested one by one,” it wrote in a post on Twitter.

A third train from St Pancras to Paris has been cancelled.

Two other services - the 7.01pm and 3.31pm were axed earlier this morning.

A sign at the London station has now confirmed the 4.31pm has also been cancelled.

“All the train tickets” of the users concerned will be reimbursed “100 per cent”, an SNCF spokesman announced in a press briefing.

French transport minister Patrice Vergriete said: “Traffic is starting to pick up again, and I’d like to thank the SNCF Réseau staff who worked so hard this morning. 

“It was really the Atlantic line that was affected. We should have one train out of three back this afternoon.”
 

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has insisted that the attack on high-speed rail lines will have “no impact on the ceremony” to open the Olympic Games on Friday evening, “because it has no consequences for the transport network” in the Paris region.

“It’s sabotage,” she told the press in Spanish, after a meeting with the King of Spain, Felipe VI. “What happened is unacceptable, but it won’t have any impact on tonight’s ceremony, because it won’t affect the transport network in the Ile-de-France region,” she added.

After getting up at 4am to fly from Cork, Ireland, Mary McCarthy said she was “very annoyed” to find out about the one-hour and a half delay to her arrival time.

The retired teacher and her daughter had planned to travel by train from Gare du Nord to their accommodation at Center Parcs Paris.

However, the pair are now having to book a one-hour taxi ride from the station instead.

“I’m not sure how much it will cost, I’m hoping they won’t be more expensive because of the demand,” she told The Telegraph.

The equestrian fan – who is due to watch cross country eventing on Sunday – added: “It’s all out of Eurostar’s hands, so I wouldn’t have thought we would get compensation.”

French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said that “the impact” on the transportation of the delegations and “the athletes this weekend” was currently being assessed. 

“What happened is neither the first nor the last of the difficulties we will encounter,” she said at the French delegation’s press conference at Club France, at La Villette in Paris.

“We still have to establish the precise intent. Let’s not be naïve: the timing of this suggests that it’s not all fortuitous. We’re not going to let ourselves be destabilised, we had anticipated all these scenarios,” she said. “All crisis scenarios have been thought through,” she added.

Patrice Vergriete, France’s acting transport minister, said authorities were “preparing themselves” for other potential attacks.

He refused to speculate as to who might have been responsible for the sabotage, saying that the investigation was ongoing. 

He said that rail engineers were making progress and that “traffic is starting to pick up again, and we should have one train out of three back this afternoon”.

Will Bolton, Crime correspondent

The saboteurs chose to avoid the heavily guarded French capital and instead struck rural targets in the middle of the night. 

While hundreds of armed police officers, and soldiers patrolled the streets of Paris around 150km south-west of the capital a number of cables were apparently set alight in the commune of Courtalain. 

The local community’s social media page posted a picture of burnt-out cables in a shallow gulley, with its protective SNCF paving stones discarded.

France’s state-owned rail company SNCF says the saboteurs either vandalised or tried to vandalise five signal boxes and electricity installations between 1am and 5.30am local time on Friday.

On Friday morning there were around a dozen SNCF workers at the site working under small tents to try and repair the damage.

The saboteurs, who have yet to claim responsibility, struck not just at Courtalain but at Pagny-sur-Moselle, a village outside the eastern city of Metz and Croisilles, not far from the northern city of Arras.

The targeted sites are small but are located at crucial junctions on the high-speed network, one SNCF worker in Courtalain told The Telegraph those responsible “knew what they were doing”. 

Another attempted attack, on a TGV junction to the south-east of Paris at Vergigny, was foiled by SNCF workers who just happened to be carrying out maintenance on site in the early hours of Friday.

Sir Keir Starmer has said we won’t let travel disruption “overshadow” the Olympics.

The Prime Minister will be in the French capital this evening for the opening ceremony, which has been plunged into chaos following a coordinated series of strikes on the country’s rail network.

Sire Keir’s spokesman said: “Obviously the situation is concerning, and like the statements you’ve seen from the French, it is also incredibly frustrating for people travelling to attend the Games and the Olympic ceremony.

“The Prime Minister would urge people to continue to follow the travel advice and the statements from the travel operators.

“The spokeswoman added: “Irrespective of this disruption, it is very clear that both in France, here and around the world, everyone is hugely excited and looking forward to what will be an incredibly successful Olympic Games, and we won’t let disruption overshadow that.”

How many Eurostar services have been disrupted? Are Eurostar services definitely running? How is Eurostar contacting affected passengers?

Find the answers to all your transport questions in our Olympics travel guide here.

Acting prime minister Gabriel Attal warned against jumping to conclusions over who was behind the sabotage.

“The investigation is starting, and I would urge everyone to exercise caution. What we know, what we can see, is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that key points were targeted, which shows a kind of knowledge of the network in order to know where to strike”, he said, assuring us that he could not “say more about the perpetrators or their motives” for the time being. 

President Emmanuel Macron, questioned on the steps of the Elysée Palace, declined to comment.

Gareth Corfield, Transport correspondent

The British Government is in “close contact” with its French counterparts, it has confirmed.

A government spokesperson said: “We are in close contact with Eurostar and the French authorities regarding the disruption to the French rail network, which is affecting some Eurostar services with delays and cancellations.

“If you’re planning to travel today, please check ahead before leaving and follow operator and FCDO travel advice.”

By Chrisropher Jasper, Transport Industry editor

The nature of the attacks on the French TGV network suggests that the perpetrators had a good working knowledge of the railway and were most likely seeking to cause maximum disruption while avoiding any loss of human life.

The attacks came in the early hours, when no trains were running on the high-speed network, and were carried out in such a way that control centres would have become immediately aware of the damage and shut down the system.

Lineside equipment and signal boxes were among the apparatus targeted, with bundles of cables appearing to have been burned or severed.

Had the perpetrators struck during the morning rush and employed acts of sabotage that could not have been so easily detected remotely – such as parking vehicles across the line – the outcome might have been very different.

John Keefe, public affairs director at Eurotunnel owner Getlink, said that on the modern railway damage to signalling, overhead wires and other equipment is immediately obvious, generally allowing trains to be safely stopped.

There appears to have been no attempt to sabotage the Channel Tunnel, and Eurotunnel’s vehicle shuttles are unaffected by the disruption further south, he said.

Eurostar trains, which are running with delays of up to 1 ½ hours as they are forced to take slow lines into Paris, will be given priority as they return through the tunnel to St Pancras.

Lines leading to the capital from all directions were targeted, with routes from Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg disrupted, though an attack on the line from Marseille in the south was foiled.

Read our business blog here.

One in four Eurostar trains will be cancelled on Friday and over the weekend following arson attacks on the French railway network.

In a statement, Eurostar said: “Due to co-ordinated malicious acts 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 up to an hour and a half.

“Eurostar expects this situation will last until Monday morning.

“Today, Eurostar will cancel 25 per cent of its trains. It will also be the case on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28.”

Eurostar operates approximately 14 London to Paris services a day with a capacity of up to 894 passengers. Around 3.350 passengers are therefore expected to have their journeys cancelled as a result of the sabotage attacks.

In London, Team GB fans are growing concerned about transport in Paris once they arrive in the French capital.

Teacher Sandra Smith, 60, is booked on the 1.31pm train to Paris, which has been delayed by 75 minutes.

Ms Smith said: “My husband is working out there, so I booked tickets a couple of weeks ago to hopefully see some of the cycling.

“Seventy five minutes is fine, any longer than that will be a bit annoying.

“We are just a bit worried about what the transport will be like on the other side once we arrive.”

Gareth Corfield, Transport Correspondent 

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, has suggested that Iran is at fault for the Olympic rail sabotage.

“The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“As I warned my French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné  this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians are planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants. Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot.

“The free world must stop Iran now - before it’s too late.”

Basel Mulhouse airport, on the border of France and Switzerland, has re-opened after a “bomb alert” this morning caused it to be evacuated.

In the last few moments EuroAirport says it has re-opened and “flight operations are gradually restarting”.

It was unclear whether this morning’s alert related to a threat inside the terminal, on an aircraft or in the vicinity of the airport, or indeed if it was related to the attacks that have halted France’s rail network.

An Air France flight from Basel Mulhouse to Paris was placed on standby in response.

In a statement on Facebook, the airport said the terminal was closed for “safety reasons”, adding: “We regret this inconvenience - it is for the safety of passengers and employees.”

Passengers are being advised to check before they travel as a number of flights have been subjected to delays or cancellations.

Russia will be the lead suspect in Friday morning’s attacks on the French rail network, as suspicions swirl that Vladimir Putin has been yearning for a chance to humiliate Emmanuel Macron, by James Rothwell.

French authorities had laid on a massive, high-tech security regime to defend the Olympics, with Reaper drones in the skies and AI-powered cameras on the ground to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.

But Friday’s attack suggests they paid far less attention to key rail routes, which were sabotaged by old-fashioned arson rather than cyber-attacks, according to the latest reports.

There have been five incidents of damage to the SNCF rail network, all of them targeting electronic or signalling boxes.

Read the full report here.

Eurostar has advised passengers not to travel following a spate of arson attacks on France’s high speed rail network.

High-speed trains around France were hit by several “coordinated acts of malice” on Friday that have heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Eurostar said in a statement.

Eurostar passengers have been told to “postpone” their trips, with trains diverted and 90-minute delays expected, after service was disrupted by acts of vandalism in France, affecting its overhead power supplies.

A statement on Eurostar’s website said: “Due to a problem with the overhead power supply in France today, we advise you to postpone your trip as your train is likely to be delayed due to infrastructure issues.”

Read the full story here.

Clément Beaune, the former French sports minister said: “Shame on the criminal saboteurs of our rail network who are seeking to destabilise our country, ruin the lives of the French people and damage our image.”

The Paris prosecutors said that an investigation has been launched into charges of “damaging property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation”, “damage and attempted damage by dangerous means in an organised gang”, “attacks on an automated data processing system in an organised gang” and “criminal conspiracy”. 

It broke down the charges and sentences as follows:

• Damage to property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation, a crime punishable by fifteen years’ imprisonment and a fine of €225,000,
• Damage and attempted damage by dangerous means in an organised gang, a crime punishable by twenty years’ imprisonment and a fine of €150,000.
• Attacks on an automated data processing system in an organised gang, an offence punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of €300,000”.
• Criminal conspiracy to commit these crimes and offences, punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of €150,000”.

At St Pancras Station this morning, two trains have been cancelled so far – while the arrival time of others could be delayed by as much as 90 minutes.

One traveller, who had been due to take the 3.31pm train, told The Telegraph, “I got told at about 9am the train was cancelled, but to be honest it’s worked out well for me, as they’ve booked me onto an earlier train for no extra cost.”

Emails sent to passengers advised them to postpone their trips if they can.

Options given includes cancelling a booking and demanding a refund, exchanging the booking for free travel at another time or date and cancelling and claiming an e-voucher.

However, many at the station were keen not to postpone, as they were travelling to see Olympic events later in the week.

Disruption to France’s trains will “certainly” last the whole weekend, a rail network chief has warned, threatening the travel plans of spectators for the opening events of the Olympic Games.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, the CEO of SNCF, told  BFM TV: “It will certainly last the whole weekend, because it will take a long time to fix....it’s a day of sadness today.”

He added that the job of the railways is a public service, to transport people when they need it, and “today we can’t do it”.

IOC President Thomas Bach said he has “full confidence in the French authorities” in the wake of rail sabotage and hours before the opening ceremony down the Seine.

The attacks on France’s rail network bears the hallmarks of the far-Left, an intelligence source has said.

All the intelligence services are being mobilised to determine the origin of these acts of sabotage, a security source told AFP. “The modus operandi - arson attacks on installations - resembles that used by the ultra-left in the past,” the source is cited as saying.

According to SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou, the perpetrators set fire to the “gutters where many fibre optic cables” are laid. These transmit “safety information for drivers” and control “point machines” for operating railway turnouts remotely.

Jean de Gliniasty, former French ambassador to Moscow, said Russia could well be behind the sabotage. 

“We are obviously in a situation of conflict with Russia, and Russia is obviously not going to do anything, and that’s an understatement, to help these Olympic Games be a success,” Mr de Gliniasty said.

“And so we’re going to come up against a lot of difficulties of this kind, either direct or indirect, because probably, I don’t know if the people who started the fire are manipulated, but it’s possible that they’re not really, and it’s quite easy to do,” he told LCI.

He added that far-Left radicals couldn’t be ruled out either. “There’s a tradition in France of black blocs, every time there’s a demonstration they destroy, they break things,” he said. “In fact, France has been facing these problems for several years now, and we haven’t managed to solve them. And so now, of course, it’s getting out of hand.”

Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, said that trains on the North and East routes were running 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours late, adding that transport plans would be “improved step by step”. 

“You will be informed progressively by text message and email if your train is running or not in the next few hours. So we’re asking you not to come to the station, because if we haven’t warned you, it means that your train isn’t running”, he told passengers stranded at stations in Paris.

The French National Agency for Information Systems Security (Anssi) denied the rail network had come under cyberattack.

“The traffic problems on the SNCF network are not the result of a cybersecurity incident”, confirmed the agency in charge of IT security for the Olympic Games. 

The SNCF has already been the victim of this type of malicious act or sabotage in the past, notably in 2023 at Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne). The incident brought traffic to a halt at Gare de l’Est, and led the then transport minister Clément Beaune to pump €5 million into improving security around the lines and electrical substations.
 

“But we’ve probably never had to deal with such a large-scale, coordinated attack,” a member of SNCF management told Le Parisien.

Paris regional council head Valérie Pécresse: said: “Clearly this attack is not a coincidence. This attack is an attempt to destablise France at a time when the Olympic and Para Olympic Games are about to be launched.”

“So our advice to all passengers who are supposed to take a fast train today is not to go to the station and to await advice that will be sent to them via text message.”

Amélie Oudéa-Castera, France’s sports minister, has said the arson attacks on railway lines were likely part of “a large-scale sabotage” effort as she “extremely” condemned those behind it.

“It’s probably a large-scale sabotage,” she told Sky News, explaining that the “malicious acts” were “probably coordinated”. 

Asked if the arson attacks were the work of Russia or of a terrorist group, Ms Oudéa-Castera responded: “Maybe”, before adding: “It could also be protesters - even French people.”

She said it was important that the “quality of the experience for the athletes” is not jeopardised by the chaos and claimed France had prepared for “all scenarios”.

The boss of national rail operator SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, blamed “une bande d’illuminés” (a gang of lunatics), of irresponsible people” for the attacks without providing more details.

“We can assume that the attack was premeditated, calculated and agreed... because the places where the fires were set are at junctions,” said Mr Farandou.

France’s tourism minister, Olivia Gregoire, has said those responsible for the attacks should be ashamed of themselves.

In a statement on X, she wrote: “Shame on the vandals who are preventing many families from going on holiday, just a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

A “massive attack” against France’s high-speed TGV rail network was an “outrageous criminal act”, transport minister Patrice Vergriete said on Friday, hours ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

There would be “very serious consequences” for rail traffic throughout the weekend with connections towards northern, eastern and northwestern France halved, Mr Vergriete added.

The Eurostar confirmed that all high-speed lines going to and from Paris will be diverted.

“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,” A Eurostar spokesman said.

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

“Eurostar’s teams are fully mobilised in stations, in the call centres, and onboard to ensure that all passengers are informed and can reach their destination.”

The company said customers were being informed via email, text and on the Eurostar website.

“Any affected passengers can cancel or refund their tickets or modify their journey free of charge,” the statement added.

Five incidents of damage or attempted damage to the SNCF network took place between 1am and 5.30am, targeting electrical or signalling boxes, according to France Info, citing sources “close to the matter”.

Regarding delays and cancellations, transport minister Patrick Vergriete said that “one train in two to the east and north” is currently running and “one TGV in four to Bordeaux”.

“On the TGV Atlantique, the TGV Nord and the TGV Est, the arson attacks have had a direct impact on the high-speed lines. The TGVs have to take conventional lines, which means delays and cancellations,” he said.

All Eurostar trains departing from and arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris have also been affected by this “massive attack”.

They are currently showing an hour’s delay on the company’s website.

SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Faranadou said the company would deploy a wide range of resources to support passengers and resolve any disruption as quickly as possible.

“Our duty is to mobilise. We’ll be there, thousands of railway workers will be mobilising to repair, to welcome customers and guide them, to think about the transport plan we’re going to make.”

He said that the celebrations of French people who had planned to travel to Paris for the Olympic Games had been “ruined”. He spoke of “800,000 customers affected”.

Jean-Pierre Faranadou, the chief executive of SNCF, said that “the French are under attack” and that the plans of thousands who had hoped to come to Paris for the Games had been “ruined”.

“Today, it’s the major (holiday) departures that are under attack, it’s a part of France that is under attack, it’s the French who are under attack,” he told BFMTV.

“It was also, of course, the inauguration of the opening of the Olympic Games, with many French people going up to Paris to enjoy a day or three to share in the joy of the Olympic Games. All that is ruined. But we’re not going to give up.

“We’re brave at SNCF France, we face up to the difficulties. 

“It’s going to be a big job to fix this, but we’ll get back on our feet and you can count on us. Count on SNCF to mobilise, to minimise the impact on the French people of this massive assault on the high-speed line network.”

France’s national rail operator SNCF urged passengers to postpone their trips and stay away from train stations.

In Paris, Montparnasse, Gare du Nord (the London to Paris Eurostar terminal) and Gare de l’Est were heavily affected with the stations starting to fill up as trains were delayed or cancelled this morning.

“Fate is against us,” said Raphael, a passenger who had been waiting for his train at Montparnasse since 6am.

The attacks were launched as Paris prepares for the opening ceremony, with 7,500 athletes, 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs.

French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera said the sabotage was clearly aimed at the Games.

“I really want to condemn in the strongest possible terms what is happening this morning, it’s absolutely appalling. To play against the Games is to play against France, against one’s camp, against one’s country,” she said.

“We’re going to assess the impact on travellers and athletes, and ensure that all the delegations are properly transported to the competition venues,” she added.

Eurostar has diverted trains from Paris following a spate of arson attacks on France’s high speed rail network, writes Cameron Henderson.

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

Eurostar passengers have now been told to expect 90-minute delays after the train service to Europe said it has been disrupted by acts of vandalism in France.

Passengers at St Pancras station were reportedly told that was a problem with the train service’s overhead power supplies.

A Eurostar spokesman said: “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 26 July.

“This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half.

“Several trains have been cancelled.”

Some 250,000 passengers have been affected by the “massive and coordinated attack”, according to Valérie Pécresse, head of the Paris regional council.

She confirmed that all four main TGV lines leaving Paris were targeted. “I am very grateful to the SNCF staff on the South-East line who managed to put the arsonists on the run,” she said.

Transport minister Patrice Vergriete said: “All the evidence we have suggests this was deliberate.”

“The simultaneous timings, the vans found with people who fled, particularly on the south-east side, the incendiary agents found on site,” he told BFMTV.

An investigation is underway, he confirmed, but “everything points to arson”.

The SNCF said for the entire weekend, “we estimate that around 800,000 passengers will be affected”.

We’re bringing you the latest form the railway attacks in France.