On the day of the Paris Olympics inauguration, the company managing the railway network, SNCF, has reported "a massive attack" that has paralyzed its high-speed train network, the so-called TGV. Sabotage acts were carried out overnight affecting three out of the four lines of the Parisian network (west, east, and north) and a total of 800,000 travelers.
The issues, which, as SNCF announces; could last throughout the weekend, occur right on the day of the Paris Olympics inauguration ceremony and during a special period for holiday departures and arrivals. The city has been heavily guarded for several days, with around 45,000 agents monitoring the streets.
"Last night, coordinated malicious acts occurred affecting several TGV lines and will severely disrupt traffic until this weekend," stated the Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergriete.
The sabotages affect the main Parisian stations: Montparnasse, Gare du Nord (the busiest in Europe), or Lyon. In the first one, no trains will run until noon.
The acts involved cable cuts or fires, carried out in the early hours of the morning and simultaneously. "All the evidence we have clearly shows that it was intentional: timing coincidences, vans found of people who fled, especially in the southeast, incendiary devices found at the scene. Everything indicates that these are deliberate fires," said the Minister of Transport.
One of the main concerns today, as Paris inaugurates its Olympics, was precisely security, both at the opening ceremony and in transportation. France is at the highest level of terrorist alert, and a colossal deployment has been made to protect the opening ceremony, which starts this afternoon.
The Minister of Transport, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, has condemned this act of "sabotaging the athletes' day." The President of the Paris region, Valérie Pécresse, has denounced an "attempt to destabilize France". The most affected area is the one heading northwest, as explained in statements to the press by Christophe Fanichet, director of SNCF passengers.
"France is facing an attempt to destabilize at the moment we launch the Olympics. We ask travelers who were supposed to take a train not to go to the station," he pointed out.