SNCF

A series of arson attacks disrupted high-speed trains in France just hours before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris.

France's high-speed rail network was hit by arson attacks that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers on Friday, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

A source close to the investigation told AFP the attacks were coordinated acts of "sabotage".

The French railway company SNCF reported that overnight on Thursday into Friday, it suffered a “massive attack of sufficient scale to cause paralysis” of the high-speed TGV network, which has been “severely disrupted.” According to Le Parisien, at least 800,000 passengers have been affected.

French train operator SNCF's TGV "M" (Modular) next generation high-speed passenger train is pictured at the Alstom plant in Belfort, eastern France, during the unveiling of its InOui (the brand name of premium TGV train services) livery, on April 29, 2024.

A new sleeper service between Berlin and Paris arrived in the French capital on Dec. 12, reflecting a growing drive for night trains as an alternative to short-haul flights.

The 14-hour nocturnal trip from the German to the French capital is to run three times a week and is scheduled to become daily from October next year.

A group of companies, including British transport group Mobico (formerly National Express), plans to launch a high-speed train service to rival Eurostar using the Channel Tunnel.

"There has been discussions in a group of industry parties," a source close to the matter told AFP, confirming information first reported by the Financial Times.

PARIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Paris on Saturday to protest against the stream of economic reforms brought in by French president Emmanuel Macron since coming to power a year ago.

The head of French railway operator SNCF said on April 9 that rolling strikes that began last week have cost the company around 100 million euros ($123 million) as staff carried out further stoppages.

A rolling strike against railway reforms that is expected to cause traffic chaos is not justified, according to a small majority of French people in a poll published on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Snowfall has caused huge traffic jams and hampered train services in the Paris region as the French capital experiences its first real dose of wintry weather this season.

The Meteo France weather service put the greater Paris region on alert for snow and black ice on roads, among 28 departments it expected to be on alert across the country until late on Wednesday.