Paris Métro – Paris, France

The Paris Métro (French: Métro de Paris) is the rapid transit system in Paris. It is a symbol of the city, notable for its homogeneous architecture, influenced by Art Nouveau. It has 16 lines, mostly underground, and a total length of 213 km (133 mi). There are 298 stations. Since some are on more than one line, there are 382 stops. Paris has the most closely spaced subway stations in the world, with 245 stations within the 41 square kilometres (16 sq mi) City of Paris.

Lines are numbered 1 to 14, with two minor lines, 3bis and 7bis. The minor lines were originally part of lines 3 and 7 but became independent. Lines are identified on maps by number and colour. Direction of travel is shown by the terminus station. Paris is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow.

It carries 4.5 million passengers a day. It carried 1.365 billion in 2005. Châtelet-Les Halles is the world’s largest underground station. The Métro has 213 km (133 mi) of track and 298 stations (382 stops), 62 connecting between lines. These figures do not include the RER network. The average distance between stations is 562 m (1,845 ft). Trains stop at all stations. Lines do not share platforms, even at interchange (transfer) stations. This also applies to RER lines.

Trains average 35 km/h (22 mph) with a maximum of 70 km/h (44 mph) on all but the automated, driverless trains of line 14, where the limit is 80 km/h. Trains travel on the right. The track is standard gauge but the loading gauge is smaller than on the mainline SNCF network. Trains vary from three to six cars. Trains on the same line always have the same number of cars.

Power is from a lateral third rail, 750v DC, except on the rubber-tyred lines where the 750 V DC is from guide bars. Lines 1, 4, 6, 11, and 14 are rubber-tyred. The earliest lines, dug by hand, follow roads. Line 1 follows the Champs Élysées in a straight line. Engineers had to follow roads or encounter cellars. This explains why some stations (Commerce on line 8 and Liège on line 13) have platforms that do not align; the street above is too narrow to fit both platforms opposite each other.

History

The First line opened without ceremony in 1900, during the Exposition Universelle world’s fair. The system expanded quickly until the First World War and the core was complete by the 1920s. Extensions into suburbs were built in the 1930s. Line 11 was also created during this period.

The network reached saturation after World War II. The Métro introduced newer trains to allow higher traffic. Further improvements are limited by the design of the network, such as short distances between stations. The solution was a second network, the RER, developed from the 1960s.

In the late 1990s, the Métro began the automated Line 14 to relieve RER Line A.

Fulgence Bienvenüe project

On 20 April 1896, Paris adopted the Fulgence Bienvenüe project, which was to serve only the city proper of Paris. Many Parisians worried that extending lines to industrial suburbs would reduce the safety of the city. Paris forbade lines to the inner suburbs and, as a guarantee, Métro trains were to run on the right, as opposed to existing suburban lines which ran on the left.

The first line, Maillot-Vincennes, was inaugurated on 19 July 1900 during the Paris World’s Fair. Entrances to stations were designed in art nouveau style by Hector Guimard. Eighty-six of his entrances are still in existence.

Fulgence Bienvenüe’s project consisted of 10 lines, which correspond to today’s lines 1 to 9. Construction was so intense that by 1920, despite a few changes from schedule, most lines had been completed.

Lines 1 and 4 were conceived as central east-west and central north-south lines. Two circular lines, ligne 2 Nord (line 2 North) and ligne 2 Sud (line 2 South), were also planned but line 2 South was merged with line 5 in 1906.

Line 3 was an additional east-west line to the north of line 1 and line 5 an additional north-south line to the east of line 4. Line 6 would run from Nation to Place d’Italie. Lines 7, 8 and 9 would connect commercial and office districts around the Opéra to residential areas in the north-east and the south-west.

Nord-Sud: the competing network

On 31 January 1904, a second concession was granted to a company called the Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris (Paris North-South underground electrical railway company) and abbreviated to the Nord-Sud (North-South) company. It was responsible for building three proposed lines:

• line A would join Montmartre to Montparnasse as an additional north-south line to the west of line 4
• line B would serve the north-west of Paris only by connecting Saint-Lazare station to Porte de Clichy and Porte de Saint-Ouen
• line C would serve the south-west only by connecting Montparnasse station to Porte de Vanves.

Line A was finally inaugurated on 4 November 1910, after being postponed because of the flood Paris experienced in January of that year. Line B was inaugurated on 26 February 1911. Because of the high construction costs, the construction of line C was postponed. The Nord-Sud company and the C.M.P company used compatible trains which could be used on both networks. However, the Nord-Sud network distinguished itself from its competitor with the high-quality decoration of its stations.

1930–1950: The first inner suburbs are reached

Fulgence Bienvenüe’s project was nearly completed during the 1920s. Paris planned three new lines and extensions of most lines to the inner suburbs, despite the reluctance of Parisians. Bienvenüe’s inner circular line having been abandoned, the already built portion between Duroc and Odéon for the creation of a new east-west line which would become today’s line 10 and it would be extended west to Porte de Saint-Cloud and the inner suburbs of Boulogne. The line C planned by Nord-Sud between Montparnasse station and Porte de Vanves would be built as an initial line 14 (different from nowadays line 14). It would also extend north in encompassing the already built portion between Invalides and Duroc which was initially planned as part of the inner circular. The over-busy funicular to Belleville would be replaced by a new line, line 11, which would be extended to Châtelet. Lines 10, 11 and 14 were thus the three new lines envisaged under this plan. It took a long time to recover after liberation in 1944. Many stations had not reopened by the 1960s and some closed for good. On March 23, 1948, the C.M.P (the underground) and the STCRP (bus and tramways) merged to form the RATP, which still operates the Métro.

1960–1990: the development of the RER

The population of Paris boomed from 1950 to 1980. Cars became more popular and suburbs grew further from the city. Paris’ main railway stations, ere the termini of the suburban rail lines, were overcrowded during rush hour. The short distance between metro stations slowed the network and made it unprofitable to build extensions.

The RER plan initially included one east-west line and two north-south lines. RATP bought two unprofitable SNCF lines the Ligne de St-Germain (westbound) and the Ligne de Vincennes (eastbound) with the intention of joining them and to serve multiple districts of central Paris with new underground stations. The new line created by this merger became RER A.

The Ligne de Sceaux, which served the southern suburbs and was bought by the CMP in the 1930s, would be extended north to merge with a line of the SNCF and reach the new Charles de Gaulle Airport. This line would become RER B. These new lines were inaugurated in 1977 and their wild success outperformed all the most optimistic forecasts to the extent that, today, RER A is the most used urban rail line in the world with nearly 300 million journeys a year.

Métro is the abbreviated name of the company which originally operated most of the network: the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris, shortened to “Métropolitain”. That was quickly abbreviated to Métro. The Métro today is operated by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP), a public transport authority that also operates part of the RER network, bus services and light rail lines.

1990–2010: Eole and Météor

In October 1998, the line 14 was inaugurated. It was the first fully new Métro (not RER) line in 63 years. The project, which was known during its conception as Météor (Métro Est-Ouest Rapide), is still the only fully automatic line within the network. It was also the first to feature platform screen doors to prevent suicides and accidents.

In 1999, the RER E was inaugurated as the latest extension of the network. Known during its conception as Eole (Est-Ouest Liaison Express), it is the fifth RER line serving Paris. Currently, the RER E terminates at Haussmann – Saint-Lazare, but a new project, financed by EPAD, the public authority managing the La Défense business district, should extend the line west into La Défense – Grande Arche and the suburbs beyond.

Rolling Stock

The rolling stock has steel-wheel (“MF” for matériel fer) and rubber-tyred trains (“MP”, matériel pneu). The different versions of each kind are specified by year of design (not the year of first use).

Rubber-tyred

• MP 59: lines 4 and 11 (To be phased out of Line 4 once transfer of MP 89 CC from Line 1 is complete.)
• MP 73: line 6
• MP 89 CA: Line 14
• MP 89 CC: Line 1 (To be transferred over to Line 4, beginning 2008/9)
• MP 05: planned to serve on line 1 by 2010 once the line is fully automated.

Steel-wheel

• MF 67: lines 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12 and as a shortened three-car version on 3bis
• MF 77: lines 7, 8 and 13
• MF 88: line 7bis
• MF 2000: planned to serve on lines 2, 5 and 9 by 2007

Other Information

• Name: Paris Métro
• Locale: Paris, France
• Transit type: Rapid transit
• Began operation: 1900
• System length: 213 km (132 mi)
• No. of lines: 16
• No. of stations: 298
• Daily ridership: 4,500,000
• Track gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) (standard gauge)
• Operators: RATP

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