Paris prosecutors investigate ‘criminal’ attack on its rail network ahead of Olympic opening

(France 24).- France suffered a coordinated attack on the high-speed train network near Paris on Friday, July 26, according to authorities, causing traffic problems and affecting hundreds of thousands of people, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The Paris prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into what it called a “criminal act” and an attempt to undermine “fundamental national interests” and said the crime carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The French government has said that the sabotage on Friday 26 July on the high-speed train lines, which affected hundreds of thousands of people on the opening day of the Olympic Games, was well planned and demonstrated a good knowledge of the network.

The attacks took place between 1:00 and 5:30 in the morning and involved setting fire to signalling systems on high-speed train (TGV) lines.

This affected three of the four TGV routes leaving Paris: the Northern route (which serves Eurostar services to London, Brussels, the Netherlands and northern Germany), the Eastern route and the Atlantic route.

The president of the Paris region, Valérie Pécresse, denounced “an attempt to destabilise France” on a key day for the country, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

“With this coordinated sabotage of four TGV networks, France is facing an attempt to destabilize the Olympic Games. We ask travelers from the Île-de-France region who need to take a TGV not to go to the station and to wait for personalized information that will be sent to them by SMS,” he said on the X network.

The French national railway company (SNCF) has announced a “massive attack” aimed at paralysing the TGV network, affecting three of the four lines in Paris, with around 800,000 passengers affected in the coming days.

Traffic problems will continue throughout the weekend, not only on the day of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, but also on special days for people leaving and arriving for vacations. The regional president said that 250,000 passengers were affected this Friday alone, and she asked people not to go to the train stations.

Investigation and mobilization of intelligence services

The Paris prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation into four possible crimes, and the police’s Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (SDAT) is in charge of coordination.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stressed that the secret services and law enforcement agencies are mobilised “to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.”

“Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts,” Attal wrote in X, calling the attacks “prepared and coordinated acts of sabotage against the facilities of (railway operator) SNCF” with “enormous and serious consequences for the rail network.”

However, Attal refused to speculate when asked in a television interview about the possibility that left-wing militants or environmental activists were behind the sabotage.

“Scandalous criminal act”

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described the events as “a scandalous criminal act” and highlighted the “coordination” of the fires, which occurred at approximately “the same time” at around 4:00 a.m. today, with incendiary devices and the perpetrators fleeing in vans.

SNCF President Jean Pierre Farandou described the sabotage as “an attack on France and the French” in a joint press conference with the minister.

Farandou said the repair work was very delicate, as the fires affected pipelines with up to 500 electrical and fiber optic cables.

“Cable by cable, it is almost a goldsmith’s job,” explained a senior company official at the event.

IOC: “We have full confidence in the French authorities”

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), dismissed concerns about security at the Games following the sabotage.

“No, I’m not worried. We have full confidence in the French authorities,” said the German leader after the Olympic torch relay in the athletes’ village.

Bach said that “all measures are being taken and the French authorities are being assisted by 180 other intelligence services around the world, not only with information, but some of them are even deploying their human resources.”