French high-speed rail network sabotaged ahead of Paris Olympics opening ceremony

The high-speed rail network in France was disrupted by "malicious acts" including arsons, just hours before theParis Olympics Opening Ceremony, media reports said on Friday (July 26). Severalhigh-speed TGV lines had been hit to the west, north, and east of Paris, and queues formed at Gare Montparnasse station in the city, a report by BBC said.

The report said that several trains had been cancelled. Rail company SNCFwarned that the situation could last at least all weekend as repairs were being carried out.

In a statement, the SNCF said, "Last night, the SNCF was the victim of several acts of vandalism on the Atlantic, Northern, and Eastern high-speed lines. Fires were deliberately set to damage our installations."

Around 800,000 passengers have been affected by the disruption.

Transport minister condemns 'criminal acts'

On Friday, French Transport MinisterPatrice Vergriete strongly condemned "these criminal actions which will compromise the vacation departures of many French people."

In a post on social media, Transport MinisterVergriete said, "Co-ordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend."

He also thanked the SNCFfor trying to restore services as soon as possible.

An act of sabotage

Speaking to the news agency AFP,a source close to the investigationsaid that the attack on the rail network was an act of sabotage.

The SNCF, meanwhile, told AFP that trains were being diverted to different tracks "but we will have to cancel a large number of them." The rail company asked passengers to postpone their trips and stay away from train stations.

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Paris is currentlyunder heavy security ahead of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, with 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs expected at the event.

(With inputs from agencies)