Trains cancelled in France as search continues for saboteurs

Three out of 10 high-speed trains in France are set to be cancelled on Saturday on lines hit by a series of “coordinated” arson attacks.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said security forces continued to search for “saboteurs” responsible for paralyzing rail networks ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games.

National rail company SNCF said services running on Saturday would be delayed by up to two hours on main lines running in and out of Paris, while a quarter of Eurostar services would also be cancelled.

The French transport minister said services would be back to normal by Monday morning.

The French railway company SNCF estimated that around 250,000 passengers were affected by the strike on Friday, while Transport Minister Patrice Vergaert said up to 800,000 passengers could be affected over three days.

Eurostar, which runs international services from London to Paris and uses a high-speed line in France, said one in four of its trains would not run over the weekend.

Authorities have advised travellers to postpone their trips, and the disruption is expected to continue until Monday.

Among Eurostar customers affected on Friday was Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who had planned to travel to the Games’ opening ceremony by train but had to fly instead.

“I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t frustrating because it was, and for a lot of people it made travel more difficult,” he told the BBC.

No party has claimed responsibility for the damage so far, according to the National Railway Company.

The company said its staff “worked through the night in difficult conditions in the rain” to repair the damage.

The “strategic” sabotage saw cable boxes set alight at the intersections of the North, Brittany and South-West lines hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games began in the capital.

Government officials said vandals cut and set fire to specialized fiber optic cables essential to the safe operation of the railway network.

A source close to the investigation told AFP the operation was “well-prepared” and organised by “a single structure”.

Railroad workers foiled an attempt to destroy safety equipment on Line 4.

“At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the northern axis, and should improve on the Atlantic axis to return at the weekend,” a Network Rail spokesman said on Saturday morning.