Paris Olympics 2024 RECAP: Sir Keir Starmer changes his travel plans after arson assault crippled Paris’ rail network – as France ‘prepares for more attacks’, with French PM vowing to ‘find and punish’ saboteurs

Here’s all we know about the arson attacks which have spread havoc across France today just hours ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris tonight.

• Three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est on Friday, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travelers.
• The Eurostar is advising passengers not to travel today after its rail services between London and Paris were disrupted by the acts of vandalism, with trains cancelled and others diverted.
• The CEO of the French rail company SNCF has warned travellers the disruption following the arson attacks will ‘last the whole weekend’.
• A Franco-Swiss airport has also been temporarily evacuated for security reasons but it is unclear if this is related to the arson attacks. .
• A former French ambassador to Moscow has speculated that Russia ‘could be responsible for arson attacks’.
• French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said today’s ‘acts of sabotage’ were ‘prepared and coordinated’ and vowed ‘to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts’.

We are now closing this live blog for the evening, thanks to everyone who tuned in.

Although we will be providing updates on the Olympic opening ceremony later tonight so stick around for that if you can.

President of the CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sports Committee) David Lappartient has confirmed that no French athletes were caught up in the travel chaos today.

To our knowledge, no athlete has been affected by these acts of sabotage, which we naturally condemn because they aim to generally undermine the Olympic Games.

Our enthusiasm is intact, we have the Olympic Games, we have already seen the atmosphere with handball for example on Thursday.

We know that a certain number of people do not like the Olympic Games, they are largely in the minority. We condemn these acts. Yes, it is regrettable, but it has not prevented the enthusiasm.

We are going to have great Olympic Games and we will try to avoid the rain this Friday evening.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is currently in the French capital along with other world leaders, has taken to X to ‘strongly condemn’ today’s arson attacks.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said that the attackers who targetted the French railway network ‘knew where to hit’.

He told journalists earlier today:

What we know, what we can see is that this operation has been planned, coordinated, that key points have been targeted which shows a kind of knowledge of the [train] network.

They knew where to hit. I can’t say more on the culprits and their motives.

The French train operator SNCF has issued an update to how repairs are coming along across its three damaged railway ines.

It said in an update on X:

• Atlantique – One in three trains are running towards Brittany and New Aquitaine, where there are delays between one and half and two hours.
• Nord – There are delays between one and half and two hour and some trains are canceled
• Est – Normal traffic has resumed on the Metz Nancy line. Beyond, towards Strasbourg, trains are running with delays of one hour, with some cancellations.

Parisians have shared their embarrassment at the collapse of much of France’s train network after saboteurs attacked the railway infrastructure eariler today.

Hermance Bonjasson, 42, who spoke to MailOnline as she waited for a replacement train to take her to the Vendee on the Atlantic coast, said: ‘I’m embarrassed that the world see us like this.

‘This should be a very proud day for France, not a day for sadness and annoyance.’

Railway executive Patrick Mercier, 51, told how he and his family had been looking forward to watching the opening ceremony at home after returning from holiday.

But now they are stranded in Paris, with all trains to Bordeaux, where they live, cancelled.

He lamented: ‘This is not the way we want the rest of the world to see France.’

Read the full story below:

A man who has spent £1,800 on Eurostar tickets to get to the Olympics said he is now considering flying or driving after trains keep getting cancelled.

Scott Wilkins, 47, booked a ticket on the 3.31pm train in November last year but discovered earlier on Friday that it was cancelled because of arson attacks that have disrupted the French rail network.

Determined to get to Paris to watch the rugby sevens finals on Saturday with his partner, Mr Wilkins said he had no option but to book business class tickets on the 4.31pm and 8.01pm services on Friday – meaning he will have spent £1,800 altogether.

However, after the 4.31pm was cancelled on Friday afternoon, the project manager from Hertfordshire said he is now considering flying or driving to make the games.

Mr Wilkins said: ‘Driving is an option. We’re thinking about driving because we’ve got the Eurotunnel.’

His partner, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I don’t think the trains are going, so we’re going to have to go home and get the car. I was looking for a flight but there aren’t any.’

Asked if she was hopeful about making the rugby, she said: ‘No.’

Mr Wilkins said: ‘I was hopeful about getting there today, and then I looked on the app and it said it was cancelled.

‘I had some harsh words with myself [before deciding] to [buy tickets] on the 4.31pm.’

Mr Wilkins said he will apply for a refund and has travel insurance to cover any non-refundable costs.

World leaders have begun arriving at President Emmanuel Macron’s Elysee Palace office Friday afternoon ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Macron and his wife Brigitte welcomed the guests on a red carpet in the courtyard of the Elysee, where they are holding a reception for around 85 heads of state or government before the ceremony on the River Seine.

Pictures show the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde arriving at the palace with her husband Wilfried along with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and his wife Claudia.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer changed his travel plans after French rail networks were hit by what the French premier has said were co-ordinated acts of sabotage.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir was meant to be travelling on the Eurostar to Paris ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, but flew to France instead due to the the disruption and delays.

The Prime Minister was seen leaving Downing Street earlier today ahead of the opening ceremony, which kicks off at 7:30pm.

French prosecutors revealed an incendiary device was found on a high-speed train line in May this year and have since been investigating, sources familiar with the case told AFP.

The discovery, confirming a report by broadcaster BFMTV, came months before today’s arson attacks on vital fibre optic cables across the French rail network ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony later today.

The device was discovered on May 8, the day the Olympic flame arrived in Marseille, the sources said.

No clear link to the Olympics has so far been established either with Friday’s attacks or the incendiary devic found on the TGV high-speed line between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.

Paris prosecutors are investigating Friday’s arson as a suspected bid to undermine France’s .fundamental national interests’.

The UK Department for Transport has said it is working closely with French authorities as well as The Eurostar.

The SCNF has announced that two trains carrying athletes to the Paris Olympics were stopped because of reasons linked to sabotage.

There are just six hours until the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, which begins at 7.30pm.

Franck Dubourdieu, head of the Atlantique line, could not say which athletes were halted from travel to Paris, or whether they would make it for the ceremony.

Speaking to press, Dubourdieu said that rail traffic was improving, but his line was one of the worst-hit by the vandals.

‘On the Atlantic coast, we operate 250 trains a day. We had four trains with athletes and two of them were able to operate,’ he said. One train was canceled and authorities hope another will become operational.

French transport minister Patrice Vergriete said authorities are ‘preparing themselves’ for further attacks.

He refused to speculate on who might be behind the arson attacks amid the ongoing investigation by French prosecutors.

Providing some optimism for travellers, he added that railway ‘traffic is starting to pick up again, and we should have one train out of three back this afternoon.’

Sabotage crippling France’s high speed TGV rail network will have ‘no impact on the ceremony’ opening the Paris Olympics on Friday evening, the city’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo said.

The ‘unacceptable’ sabotage ‘has no effect on the transport network’ in the French capital, Hidalgo said, speaking to reporters in Spanish after meeting Spain’s King Felipe VI.

More Snoop Dogg content for everyone here, as new video footage shows the US rapper sending crowds wild as he took part in Olympic torch relay in France today.

A huge cheer erupted as he appeared at the top of a bridge exiting the stadium area, pumping up to the crowds as he made his way down to the Seine to hand on the flame for its final journey along the river.

Local mayor Mathieu Hanotin announced earlier in the week that Snoop Dogg would be part of the relay and locals certainly came out to support.

Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr, will be working as a special correspondent for American network NBC during the Games this summer.

Four years ago he sent the internet willd with his commentaries in Tokyo, when he famously described a dressage competitor as a ‘crip-walking horse’.

Workers for the railway operator SNCF are hard at work repairing the damage caused by arson attacks at multiple signalling stations across the country.

The train operator shared a video of a group of workers carrying out repairs at a substation in Courtalain, to the southwest of Paris.

It said they were having to replace and test the cables one by one.

Two security sources have said the modus operandi for the arson attacks meant initial suspicions fell on leftist militants or environmental activists, but they said there was not yet any evidence.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (below) declined to speculate when asked in a TV interview about the possibility of such groups being behind the sabotage.

‘The investigation is starting, I call on everyone to be cautious,’ he said.

‘What we know, what we see, is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that nerve centers were targeted, which shows a certain knowledge of the network to know where to strike.’

As we have previously reported, three fires were started near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est in France on Friday, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line further to the south was also foiled, according to railway operator SNCF.

The graphic below shows exactly where the attacks and attempted attack took place.

Sir Keir Starmer has urged people going to Paris for the Olympics to heed the travel advice following the disruption to Eurostar services caused by multiple arson attacks in France today.

The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said:

Obviously the situation is concerning, and like the statements you’ve seen from the French, it is also incredibly frustrating for people travelling to attend the Games and the Olympic ceremony.

The Prime Minister would urge people to continue to follow the travel advice and the statements from the travel operators.

Irrespective of this disruption, it is very clear that both in France, here and around the world, everyone is hugely excited and looking forward to what will be an incredibly successful Olympic Games, and we won’t let disruption overshadow that.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz has taken to X to point the blame at Iran for the arson attacks on French railway infrastructure today.

Earlier we reported that a Franco-Swiss airport in France had grounded some of its flight due to ‘safety reasons’, which now appears to have been caused by a bomb threat.

In an update, the Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport said it has now reopened and flight operations ‘are gradually restarting’.

It said in an update today: ‘The airport has reopened, and flight operations are gradually restarting. Passengers are requested to contact their airline for information about their flight. We wish you a safe and happy journey.’

In an earlier statement the airport said: ‘For safety reasons, the terminal had to be evacuated and is currently closed,’ said on its website, adding that further information would follow.

It is unclear whether the closure was linked to the ongoing chaos caused by the arson attacks in France today.

One in four Eurostar trains will be cancelled today and over the weekend following the arson attacks on the French railway network.

In a statement, Eurostar said: ‘Due to co-ordinated malicious acts in France affecting the high-speed line between Paris and Lille, all high-speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today, Friday July 26. This extends the journey time up to an hour and a half.

‘Eurostar expects this situation will last until Monday morning.

‘Today, Eurostar will cancel 25% of its trains. It will also be the case on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28.

‘Eurostar’s teams are fully mobilised in stations, in the call centres, and onboard to ensure that all passengers are informed and can reach their destination.’

Two German athletes will miss the Olympics opening ceremony later tonight due to the ongoing travel chaos.

The two showjumpers were on a train to Paris but had to turn back in Belgium because of the closures, and will now miss the ceremony, German news agency dpa reported.

‘There was no longer a chance of making it on time,’ rider Philipp Weishaupt (below), who was traveling with teammate Christian Kukuk, told dpa.

Pictures from social media have shown a set of wires which appear to have been charred after an arson attack on French railway networks.

The images, posted to Facebook, shows a large cluster of cables with their rubber casings apparantly burnt off, near track at Courtalain, where the first blaze was detected earlier today.

It caused the interruption of traffic on the hugely busy Atlantique high-speed line.

SNCF has also referred to a ‘malicious act’ on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris, in the northern Arras sector.

The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into today’s arson attacks on the French high-speed rail network that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of people.

The National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime is handling it.

The prosecutor’s office said it had ‘jurisdiction over crimes involving the deterioration of property that threaten the fundamental interests of the nation.’

This crime, it added, carried a potential 15-year sentence and fines of €225,000.

Meanwhile, crimes involving ‘degradation and attempted degradation by dangerous means in an organised group’ can carry a 20-year prison sentence and fines of €150,000.

SNCF chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said damages to the railway have been caused by fires in ‘conduits carrying multiple (fibre-optic) cables’

He said that attackers targetted the conduits which carry ‘safety information for drivers’ or control the motors for points.

‘There’s a huge number of bundled cables. We have to repair them one by one, it’s a manual operation’ requiring’ hundreds of workers,’ he added.

As Eurostar announced several trains to Paris had been cancelled or delayed due to the ongoing issues over the Channel, there were fears some GB athletes yet to reach the French capital could also be affected.

The majority of Team GB athletes have been arriving at the Games via Eurostar in the past couple of days.

But the British Olympic Association confirmed that only two athletes were scheduled to arrive on Friday and had been subject to only minor delays.

US rapper Snoop Dogg has been pictured carrying the Olympic torch in Paris today.

The artist looked to be in awe of the ceremonial beacon as he transported it through the streets of Saint-Denis.

Let’s hope he doesn’t drop it…like it’s hot.

SNCF railway workers and police officers have been pictured at the site where vandals targeted France’s high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions earlier today.

Images show a group of workers inspecting the area next to the railway track amid a mass of large wires.

At least three police officers were also pictured at the scene.

A Franco-Swiss airport in France has grounded some of its flight due to ‘safety reasons’.

‘For safety reasons, the terminal had to be evacuated and is currently closed,’ the Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport said on its website, adding that further information would follow.

Several French airports, including EuroAirport, had to be evacuated late last year due to a series of fake bomb threats.

EuroAirport, which is located on the French side of the border near Basel, welcomed eight million passengers in 2023.

It is unclear whether this is linked to the ongoing chaos caused by the arson attacks in France today.

The former French ambassador to Moscow, Jean de Gliniasty has fuelled speculation that Russia may be involved in today’s arson attacks.

We are obviously in a situation of conflict with Russia, and Russia is obviously not going to do anything, and that’s an understatement, to help these Olympic Games be a success.

And so we’re going to come up against a lot of difficulties of this kind, either direct or indirect, because probably, I don’t know if the people who started the fire are manipulated, but it’s possible that they’re not really, and it’s quite easy to do.

There’s a tradition in France of black blocs, every time there’s a demonstration they destroy, they break things.

In fact, France has been facing these problems for several years now, and we haven’t managed to solve them. And so now, of course, it’s getting out of hand.

Returning to the comments made by France’s Prime Minister earlier today, Gabriel Attal said today’s ‘acts of sabotage’ were ‘prepared and coordinated’.

The PM said in a post on X: ‘Early this morning, acts of sabotage were carried out in a prepared and coordinated manner on SNCF installations.

‘The consequences on the rail network are massive and serious.’

He added that he shared the anger of the French people looking to attend the games today and vowed ‘to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts’.

The CEO of the French rail company SNCF has warned travellers the disruption following the arson attacks are likely to continue for the next few days.

Jean-Pierre Farandou told BFM TV: ‘I am thinking of all the French who won’t be able to go on holiday today, or those who will leave in worse conditions,’ he says.

‘It will certainly last the whole weekend, because it will take a long time to fix. It’s a day of sadness today,’

Mr Farandou said earlier today some 800,000 customers had been impacted ahead of a busy weekend for French holidaymakers. Thousands of rail staff had been deployed to repair the damage.

France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said the country’s intelligence services and law enforcement have been mobilised ‘to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts’.

Eurostar has told customers to cancel their trips on Friday if they can, amid ongoing disruption to its services.

In an update to an earlier statement, the rail operator said: ‘We encourage our customers to postpone their trip if possible.’

The announcement will come as unwelcome news for the thousands of sports fans who are looking to travel to Paris via rail for the start of the Olympics.

On a more positive note, lets have a look at the start of the Olympic celebrations in Paris.

The final leg of the Olympic torch relay has kicked off this morning, with IOC President Thomas Bach and the Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission Emma Terho pictured taking part in the event at the Olympic Village.

They have handed the torch over to China’s Wu Jingyu who has now passed it on to Masomah Ali Zara, who is the head of the refugee Olympic committee.

France’s sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera (pictured below with French President Emmanuel Macron) has said the arson attacks on France’s rail network today were ‘probably coordinated’.

She told Sky News: ‘It’s probably a large-scale sabotage with some malicious acts, probably co-ordinating.

‘We’re still in the process of analysing all the impacts, accessing what we’re going to implement as solutions because it’s going to have impacts also over the weekend.’

Ms Oudéa-Castera also admitted the ‘malicious acts’ could be the work of Russia or of a terrorist group as well as ‘protesters or even French people’.

She said the arsonists were ‘playing against the side of the athletes, who have been working so hard, for so many years’.

She added: ‘I have a little bit of anger. We are not going to let ourselves be destabilised by this.’

Fears are mounting that Moscow may be behind today’s ‘massive arson attack’ which has brought chaos to France’s rail network after an alleged Russian spy was arrested earlier this week.

Kirill Gryaznov (below), 40, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with working ‘with a foreign power to try and incite hostilities in France’ after being identified as working for the FSB, Vladimir Putin’s domestic intelligence agency.

Gryaznov – who denies any wrongdoing – is said to have boasted about turning the start of the Paris Olympics into ‘an opening ceremony like no other’.

Traffic has begun to queue at the Port of Dover in Kent this morning amid the ongoing travel chaos across the Channel.

Drivers are being warned to expect a ‘weekend of woe’ on the roads as millions of families embark on getaway journeys after many schools in England and Wales broke up for summer this week.

Several Eurostar trains to Paris have been cancelled and others have been diverted following the arson attacks today.

The rail operator, which runs international services from London St Pancras, confirmed its trains would be delayed because of the ongoing issues over the Channel.

Eurostar said that ‘all high-speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line today’.

It added: ‘This extends the journey time by around an hour-and-a-half. Several trains have been cancelled.

‘Eurostar’s teams are fully mobilised in stations, in the call centres, and onboard to ensure that all passengers are informed and can reach their destination.’

The company said customers were being informed via email, text and on the Eurostar website.

Any affected passengers can cancel or refund their tickets or modify their journey free of charge.

As mentioned below, a ‘massive arson attack’ on France’s rail network has brought chaos to the start of the Paris Olympics today.

With just hours to go before the opening ceremony on the River Seine, fires were started at key installations, bringing trains to a halt and affecting around 800,00 passengers.

The Gare du Nord – the main Eurostar station in Paris – was hit by the attacks on the rail network, said a spokesman for SNCF, France’s rail operator.

This caused the cancellation of multiple services, including ones meant to be bringing sports fans into the French capital.

Read our full story below:

Morning all and welcome to MailOnline’s liveblog for the start of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The start of the world’s most coveted sporting event has not got off the best start as a ‘massive arson attack’ on France’s rail network has brought chaos across the country just hours before the opening ceremony.

We will bring you the latest updates as the day unfolds as thousands of sports fans are expected to descend on the capital amid the travel chaos.