LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday changed his travel plan to attend the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris after Eurostar trains were disrupted due to sabotage attacks against French rail networks.

Downing Street in a statement said Starmer was scheduled to travel on the cross-Channel rail service from London to Paris for the Olympics opening ceremony, in his first visit to France since being elected earlier this month. But a spokeswoman said he opted to fly instead due to the delays and cancellations.

France is welcoming dozens of heads of state and government and royalty for the Olympics which will start with a dazzling ceremony on the river Seine on Friday.

Just hours before the ceremony, arson attacks put France’s high-speed rail network into chaos affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

One in four Eurostar trains were also cancelled, the company said, with the disruption set to continue over the weekend.

Furthermore, Eurostar trains departing from and arriving in Paris will operate on regular lines instead of high-speed routes.

This change will extend the Paris-London journey by an additional 90 minutes, making the trip around three hours and 50 minutes. Eurostar operates routes connecting the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.