Man arrested over Olympics 'sabotage' after attack on Paris rail network

French authorities have confirmed a man was arrested on Sunday after the 'sabotage' attacks on the Paris rail network hours before the opening ceremony.

Thousands were affected on Friday after the attacks on France's high-speed trains brought travel chaos to the capital. Signal stations and critical cable points were targeted with a series of fires bringing trains to a halt and causing vast numbers of cancellations.

The chief executive of rail operator SNCF described it as a 'premeditated, calculated, coordinated' attack with the 'desire to seriously harm'.

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A police source has now confirmed that a far-left activist has been arrested at a SNCF site on Sunday and has been detained at Oissel in northern France. It is believed that the man had access keys to the rail company's premises and tools and literature linked to the far left.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin suggested government officials were leaning towards the idea that far-left extremists were behind the train attacks. He confirmed that the profiles of 'several people' had been identified over the incident that was 'the traditional type of action of the ultra-left'.

It is believed that the attacks affected around 800,000 people with all trains finally back up and running by Monday morning after teams worked tirelessly over the weekend to repair the damage.

Police confirmed that fiber optic networks for telecommunications operators had now also been 'sabotaged' in six areas of France, although Paris had not yet been affected. It is unclear at this stage if the incident is linked to Friday's attack.

Similarly, a Russian man was arrested last week suspected of planning to sabotage the Games. However police have not stated any link between that and the arson attack.