France's rail network was paralysed on Friday by what authorities called coordinated acts of sabotage, which knocked out most of its high-speed train services hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

At Paris' Gare du Nord station, a Hongkonger living in the UK said he may have to call off his trip to Brussels because his train had been delayed.

"I arrived at the station half an hour early and saw my train was delayed for half an hour. And the train is getting delayed further. I’m afraid that it may be cancelled and my schedule will be a mess."

French rail operator SNCF said three night-time arson attacks had destroyed cabling boxes at strategic junctions around its network at locations north, south-west and east of Paris.

A fourth attempted act of vandalism south-east of the capital was thwarted by rail workers who spotted intruders in the early hours of Friday.

"Our intelligence services and law enforcement are mobilised to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts", Prime Minister Gabriel Attal posted on X, calling the attacks "prepared and coordinated acts of sabotage".

The Paris Olympics are set to open in a spectacular and unprecedented ceremony on the river Seine on Friday evening, with many ticket holders set to travel to the City of Light by train.

With some trains on the Eurostar network – whose routes include Paris to London – cancelled, a traveller in the UK, Saloni Modi, said she was worried she could not make the opening ceremony.

"Nervous about missing it, yes. Because it's something that we've planned and we're looking forward to, and it's almost like a once in a lifetime because you don't get to go to that all the time. So we're hoping we make it."

French officials refused to comment on the identity of the culprits of the rail sabotage who appear to have had a sophisticated understanding of the network.

Commenting on the rail disruption, which will affect 800,000 people over the weekend, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach told the media that he had no concerns.

"We have full confidence in the French authorities," he said at the Athletes' Village.

The USA basketball team was also set to take a high-speed train to play their opening game on Sunday against Serbia in Lille, northern France. (Additional reporting by AFP and Reuters)
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Last updated: 2024-07-26 HKT 22:03