French authorities announced on Monday the return of the high-speed train network to normal operations after a major attack targeted the network just before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Friday. The French National Railway Company announced that high-speed train services in the country were back to normal on Monday after experiencing a "massive attack" hours before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics last week.
Train services saw improvement on Saturday, but disruptions persisted. The company suffered a "massive attack" late Thursday into Friday, causing significant disruption to train services that affected 800,000 passengers before the opening ceremony. They stated on Friday that "multiple coordinated acts of sabotage" impacted their Atlantic, Northern, and Eastern lines. The operating company confirmed on Friday that "deliberate fires" were set at various signal stations.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin mentioned that Paris tends to believe that far-left extremists are behind the vandalism that targeted the railway network last week. This vandalism coincided with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Darmanin told France 2 TV: "We have identified several individuals," as part of the pursuit of the vandals. He added that the methods of the vandals bear the hallmarks of far-left extremists. Darmanin also shared a report from the media via X platform regarding the arrest of an activist linked to far-left groups due to the vandalism against the high-speed train network. The government has not announced any arrests since the attack that occurred just hours before the start of the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday.
