France’s high-speed rail network was hit by a series of arson attacks that have disrupted the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

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

A spokesman for the French national train service SNCF said: “This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network,” adding that many routes will have to be cancelled and the situation would last, “at least all weekend while repairs are conducted”.

You can find the full story here, but here’s a look at how the services are affected;

What services are affected?

SNCF says that at least 800,000 passengers will be affected by disruption on Friday, while the transport minister announced that up to 50 percent of services on affected lines would have to be cancelled.

The below map shows the sites of the arson attacks and which of the high-speed TGV lines – shown in blue – are affected.

A map of today's sabotage of train lines in #France pic.twitter.com/13mP7pyvs5

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) July 26, 2024

SNCF has added that passengers affected by cancellations will be entitled to a 100 percent refund.

You can find detailed information on the SNCF information page here, or on the SNCF Connect app, but here is an overview of the services affected.

North – services between Paris and Lille and Paris and Arras are severely disrupted with delays and cancellations. High-speed TGV trains are being diverted onto local lines adding around 1 hour 30 minutes to journeys. Normal services are not expected to resume until Monday.

East – the TGV Est lines which include services between Paris and Strasbourg, Nancy and into Germany are severely disrupted with delays and cancellations. Services between Paris and the Champagne area (including Reims and Châlons) are not affected.

South-East – the LGV Sud-Est line, which links Paris with Lyon and onwards to Switzerland and Italy is not affected. SNCF said that an attempted arson attack in this area was foiled.

West and South-West – the TGV connections between Paris and Tours and Paris and Le Mans have been severely affected with limited services. Travellers are advised to postpone their journey if possible. Normal services are not expected to resume until Monday.

Paris’ Gare Montparnasse – which hosts the lines to the south-west and west of France – had no departures until 1pm on Friday, and after that SNCF says that one in three of the normal services will be running between Paris and Bordeaux.

Services to western France including Brittany and Normandy were gradually restarting on Friday afternoon, with around one in three services cancelled and many delayed.

Local trains

The arson attacks have targeted the high-speed TGV routes, but there may be some knock-on disruption to local TER train services, especially in northern France where some TGV trains are being diverted onto local lines.

SNCF says that just three trains per hour will be running on the routes between Paris and Brittany and Pays de la Loire with the possibility of cancellations.

Paris public transport

Regional public transport in Paris (the Metro, trams, buses, RER and local Transilien trains) have not been affected by the arson attacks. However security arrangements for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday mean that Metro and bus services in the city centre are severely disrupted – more details here.

Road closures in the city centre mean that people are strongly advised against driving in Paris on Friday.

Eurostar

Eurostar trains – which use the French high-speed line between Paris and Lille – have also been affected.

Eurostar says: “Due to coordinated acts of vandalism in France, affecting the high speed line between Paris and Lille, all high speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted onto the local train line on Friday. This extends the journey time by around an hour and a half. Several trains have been cancelled.”

In total 25 percent of trains between Paris and London were cancelled on Friday.

They added that passengers can cancel free of charge.