France's high-speed rail network was hit by "malicious attacks", including arson, hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, said train operator SNCF on Friday, Jul. 26.

The attacks paralysed travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics.

"Last night, the SNCF was the victim of several acts of malintent on the Atlantic, North and East lines. Traffic is severely disrupted on these lines," the operator said on their website.

AFP reported that the act of purported "sabotage" affected 800,000 passengers.

"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," SNCF said, adding that repair works would be carried over the weekend.

BREAKING France's high-speed train system disrupted by vandalism: operator pic.twitter.com/h5Q0QCL4T5

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 26, 2024

Attempts to attack the southeastern line were "foiled", France24 reported.

French intelligence services mobilised

France prime minister Gabriel Attal said on X that security forces are looking for the people behind the attacks.

"Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilised to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts," Attal said.

Tôt ce matin, des actes de sabotage ont été, de façon préparée et coordonnée, menés sur des installations de la SNCF.

Les conséquences sur le réseau ferroviaire sont massives et graves.

Je dis toute ma reconnaissance à nos pompiers qui sont intervenus sur les sites touchés et…

— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) July 26, 2024

Eurostar also said its rail services between London and Paris have been disrupted due to the "coordinated acts of vandalism".

This has caused all high-speed trains going to and coming from Paris to be diverted via the classic line, extending train journeys by an hour and a half.

Some trains have also been cancelled.

France's Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete condemned the attacks in a post on X, and thanked the SNCF for working hard to restore traffic.

Des actes de malveillance coordonnés ont visé cette nuit plusieurs lignes TGV et perturberont fortement le trafic jusqu’à ce week-end. Je condamne fermement ces agissements criminels qui vont compromettre les départs en vacances de nombreux Français. Un grand merci aux équipes de…

— Patrice Vergriete (@P_Vergriete) July 26, 2024

Top photo via Matthias Grolier/X and Smriti Sharma/X