Two Trains Carrying Athletes Stopped En Route to Paris

New Delhi: Hours before the start of the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, two trains carrying Olympic athletes to Paris on the western Atlantique line were halted. According to France's rail company, SNCF, one train was cancelled, while efforts were underway to get the other one back on track.

Earlier in the day, arsonists attacked the French high-speed rail network, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe for some 800,000 people, including Olympic athletes heading to the grand opening ceremony of the Games in the evening. 

French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes — among them property damage threatening the nation's "fundamental interests” — could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years.

“It’s a hell of a way to start the Olympics,” said Sarah Moseley, a 42-year-old traveler waiting at the Gare du Nord station in Paris as she learned that her train to London was delayed by the rail chaos.

As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River, three fires were reported before dawn near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travelers. Among them were Olympic athletes themselves.

Also, two German athletes in showjumping who were on a train to Paris for the opening ceremony — Philipp Weishaupt and Christian Kukuk — had to turn back in Belgium because of the closures, German news agency dpa reported.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the massive attacks on France’s high-speed railway arteries to Paris would have “no impact on the opening ceremony” of the Games, though cloudy skies and forecast rain also were dampening the mood as the long-awaited Games were about to start.

There were no known reports of injuries from the attacks.

(With inputs from AP)