Arson attack hits France before opening of train network

“We have full confidence in the French authorities,” he said.

An Australian Olympic Committee spokesman said the team had not yet been affected by the rail issues.

“We have three athletics officials arriving by train tomorrow and we don’t expect any problems,” he said, adding that around 68 people were expected to arrive by train from Montpellier on Monday as part of a wider athletics delegation.

Central Paris was put on lockdown ahead of the opening ceremony, with a pass required to cross police cordons anywhere within a few hundred yards of the Seine River and Olympic venues.

Some 45,000 police officers were already patrolling Paris, and Laurent Nunez, the city’s police chief, said additional officers had been deployed to train stations. Valerie Pecresse, head of the Ile-de-France region in charge of transport, said it was a “large-scale, organized attack” that affected equipment that powers trains.

She added that SNCF staff had managed to disperse the arsonist. The incident affected several main Paris lines, including the line to the northern city of Lille, which will host football and basketball events during the Olympics.

The national police said authorities were investigating the incident. French media reported that the fire had broken out on a busy western route.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said in a post on the X website that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents” and that the French National Railway Company was working to restore traffic.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera said authorities were working to “assess the impact on travelers and athletes and to ensure that all delegations can reach the Olympic venues.” “To go against the Olympics is to go against France, against your own camp, against your own country,” she said in a speech on BFM television. She did not say who was behind the sabotage.

Passengers at London St Pancras station were told that Eurostar trains would be delayed by around an hour, while an announcement in the departures hall of the international terminal informed passengers heading to Paris that there was a problem with the overhead power supply.