As the Olympic torch was carried toward Paris for the 2024 Summer Games, flames of another kind were causing concern for the city’s security chiefs. On the eve of the July 26 opening ceremony, a series of arson attacks disrupted travel into the capital along a high-speed rail network.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the series of small fires that brought trains to a halt on three major lines; nor has there been any claim of responsibility. But the incident exposed a vulnerability long known to security experts. Terrorist groups, too, have long seen passenger trains as attractive targets. Just months prior to the Paris incident, al-Qaida had been promoting train stations as potential targets.
