On Friday, two trains carrying Olympic athletes on the Western Atlantic Line were stopped, said Franc’s rail company SNCF. The incident occurred hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics.
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Two trains were stopped as arsonists hit the France rail routes. The arsonist attack disrupted France’s high-speed rail network. This has affected tens of thousands of passengers just hours before the opening ceremony Of the Paris Olympics, 2024.
The official has described the event as a premeditated act of “sabotage” as the capital of France was under heavy security.
Improvement of Rail Travel
Despite cancellations and delays because of arson attacks on the high-speed network just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, rail travel is expected to improve over the weekend, as per the National Rail operator SNCF.
The SNCF has assured that all participants and individuals accredited for the games will have guaranteed travel to their destinations.
Source: AP Photo
The operator has further stated that the high-speed train linking Paris with western and southwestern France, two of three is expected to depart as scheduled, while 80% of the high-speed train is also expected to run as per schedule.
Trains Carrying Athletes Stopped
Four trains were carrying Olympic athletes to Paris on the Western Atlantic High-Speed Line, out of which two high-speed trains were stopped just hours before the opening ceremony due to the coordinate sabotage on the tracks.
In addition to that, Philipp Weishaupt and Christian Kukuk, two German show jumping athletes, had to go back to Belgium because of the train closure while traveling to Paris for the opening ceremony, as reported by the German news agency DPA.
Paris Mayor’s Statement
The city Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said that the arsonist attacks on the rail networks will have no impact on the ceremony.
He further described the sabotage of the event as unacceptable. The Paris city mayors have assured that it does not affect the transport network.
France PM Statement
The French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, in response to the attack, has stated that the sabotage targeting key parts of France’s high-speed rail network appeared to have “a clear objective of blocking the high-speed train network.”
Attal stated that the attacks by Vandal strategically targeted main routes from West, South, and East towards Paris just hours before the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
The French PM further warned of “massive consequences”, which include the massive disruptions for “hundreds of thousands” of people traveling to Paris for the Olympic Games or vacations.
Culprits of the Attacks
SNCF CEO Jean Pierre Farandou, according to him, while conducting night maintenance in central France, railway workers noticed unauthorized individuals. The unauthorized individuals fled as soon as the workers alerted the police.
As per a security source, France’s intelligence service was scrambling to find the individual individuals responsible for the sabotage and told the news agency AFP. The method used by arsonists in the attacks was similar to the tactics previously employed by Extreme Left Group.
