French Rail Network Crippled by 'Atrocities' Ahead of Olympics

French rail company SNCF said on Friday it had been targeted by a “massive attack aimed at paralyzing the network” overnight, with fires deliberately started on high-speed train lines leading to the French capital.

The arson attack took place hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics on the River Seine.

SNCF has asked travelers to postpone their journeys, with around 800,000 people expected to be affected in what would have been a major traffic jam in and out of Paris due to the opening ceremony and the peak summer holiday season.

Some of the country's high-speed TGV trains have been transferred to old railway lines but most of them have been cancelled.

The Eurostar, which connects London and Paris, has also been disrupted.

According to figures from the British embassy released earlier this week, more than 500,000 tickets for the Olympics have been bought in the UK, and the country is expected to be the largest tourist destination for the games, which run from July 26 to August 11, after France.

SNCF said its teams were already at the damage sites but repairs would not be completed until the weekend.

France is on high alert for security as the Paris Games begin with some 45,000 police, 20,000 and 18,000 private security guards guarding the French capital.

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