Will Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony be affected by arson train attacks?

Coordinated attacks have disrupted service for travelling fans and athletes.

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 is scheduled for Friday (26 July) will take place outside a stadium for the first time. It’ll be a unique event in which athletes of all nations will be paraded in boats along the Seine, with these boats passing the iconic landmarks all across the city.

But ahead of the opening ceremony, the Parisian train system has been disrupted by a systematic attack by arsonists. Unnamed saboteurs have attacked France’s TGV high-speed train network that connects rail lines all across the country.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony: Date, time venue, live streaming and more details

The arsonists have successful been able to damage signal boxes along the lines that connect Paris with other cities such as Lille, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. But an attempt on the Paris-Marseille train line was fortunately foiled.

But due to the attacks on the signal boxes, a large number of trains have been affected. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have also been left stranded due to the non-movement of certain vehicles. Even though repairs are now underway, it’s been warned that traffic will be disrupted until at least the end of the weekend.

France’s transport minister Patrice Vergriete told reporters that ‘Everything leads us to believe that these were criminal acts,’ while Valerie Pecresse – the vice president of the Paris region, said that ‘This attack is not a coincidence, it’s an effort to destabilise France.’

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Is attacks on trains going to impact Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony?

It’s been stated that a number close to 800,000 people have been impacted ahead of what is going to be an extremely busy weekend for those in France. As a result, thousand of rail staff have been deployed to fix the damage done by the arsonists. But for a number of fans coming in from different cities via train, this disruption might not allow them to witness the opening ceremony.

Despite this severe disruption of the train system, the Olympics opening ceremony is not expected to be impacted. The ceremony is going to begin at 19:30 CEST (11:00 PM IST) and the innovative outdoor concept is going to make it the largest opening ceremony in terms of audience and Geographical Coverage.

The quays along the sides of the Seine River, the city’s main water artery, will become like quays which will be occupied by the spectators and allow them to watch sportspersons from all over the world take part in the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, France have confirmed that they’ve set up an unprecedented security operation for the Olympics. More than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security agents have been deployed all over Paris, while snipers from rooftops and drones will be all over the city in anticipation of any threat.

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