The Ultimate Paris Métro Dog Breeds Information Guide and Reference

Paris Art Nouveau Metro sign

The Paris Métro is the metro (underground) system in Paris, France. It was originally known as the "Chemin de Fer Métropolitain" ("Metropolitan railway"), then "Métropolitain," quickly abbreviated to "Métro". Speakers of verlan call it "le tromé."

The system consists of 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14, with two minor lines 3bis and 7bis, numbered thus because they are branch lines split off from the original lines 3 and 7. It is the third longest metro in Western Europe, after the London Underground and the Madrid Metro.

Brief technical points:

213 km (132 miles) of track, over 300 stations
circulation is on the right
track gauge of 1.435 meters (standard gauge, like the French main lines) -- but trains are narrower than mainlines, so the Metro can run on mainlines but not vice versa
power collection: third rail
average distance between stations is approx 300 m (328 yards)
lines 1, 4, 6, 11, and 14 are rubber-tired
line 14 is driverless (fully automatic)

One single ticket price for any journey, unlimited connections, but limited to a 2-hour ride.

A second network of regional express lines, the RER (Réseau Express Régional) complements the network since the 1970s.

Contents

Existing lines

1: La Défense - Château de Vincennes

First section opened July 19, 1900
Converted to rubber-tired operation 1964

2: Porte Dauphine - Nation

First section opened December 13, 1900

3: Pont de Levallois-Bécon - Gallieni

First section opened October 19, 1904

3bis: Gambetta - Porte des Lilas

Opened November 27, 1921 (then part of line 3)
Detached from line 3 April 2, 1971

Inside the Métro, here at the Simplon station

4: Porte de Clignancourt - Porte d'Orléans

First section opened April 21, 1908
Converted to rubber-tired operation 1967

5: Place d'Italie - Bobigny-Pablo Picasso

First section opened June 2, 1906 (some sections opened earlier are now part of line 6)

6: Charles de Gaulle-Étoile - Nation

First section opened October 2, 1900 (then part of line 5)
Converted to rubber-tired operation 1974

7: Villejuif-Louis Aragon/Mairie d'Ivry - La Courneuve-8 Mai 1945

First section opened November 5, 1910

7bis: Louis Blanc - Pré-Saint-Gervais

Opened January 18, 1911 (then part of line 7)
Detached from line 7 December 3, 1967

8: Balard - Créteil-Préfecture

First section opened July 13, 1913

9: Pont de Sèvres - Mairie de Montreuil

First section opened November 8, 1922

10: Boulogne-Pont de Saint-Cloud - Gare d'Austerlitz

First section opened July 13, 1913 (then part of line 8)

11: Châtelet - Mairie des Lilas

First section opened April 28, 1935
Converted to rubber-tired operation November 8, 1956

12: Mairie d'Issy - Porte de La Chapelle

First section opened November 5, 1910 (as part of Nord-Sud line A)

13: Châtillon-Montrouge - Gabriel Péri-Asnières-Gennevilliers/Saint Denis-Université

First section opened February 26, 1911 (as part of Nord-Sud line B)
First section opened by CMP December 30, 1923 (then part of line 10)

14: Saint-Lazare - Bibliothèque François Mitterrand

First section (Madeleine - Bibliothèque François Mitterrand) opened October 15, 1998
Saint-Lazare terminus opened December 16, 2003
Olympiade terminus (instead of Bibliothèque) is to open in 2006.

Line 14 is fully automated. There are no drivers in trains. The platforms are separated from the tracks by transparent walls, and both the trains and platforms have doors that open automatically when the train is stopped, perfectly aligned with the doors.

An earlier line 14 Invalides-Porte de Vanves existed from July 29, 1937, when it was detached from line 10, to November 9, 1976, when it was incorporated into line 13.

Architecture

Abbesses station - one of the art nouveau metro station entrances designed by Hector Guimard

One of the most famous aspects of the Paris metro are its wrought-iron art nouveau entrances by Hector Guimard, which have come to symbolize Paris although not very many remain in use (86 entrances by Guimard still exist).

History

Line 1 was inaugurated on July 19, 1900, after decades of political wrangling over routes and construction. Short sections of the present lines 2 and 6 (then numbered 5) were completed in the same year to serve the World's Fair.

The lines 1 through 10 were built by the Ville de Paris (City of Paris) and run by the CMP (Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Métropolitain de Paris). It is thought that the name was after the Metropolitan Railway in London, which later became part of the London Underground.

A second company, "Nord-Sud" (Société du Chemin de Fer Electrique Nord-Sud de Paris) started up in 1910 and built two lines named A and B (now part of lines 12 and 13). "Nord-Sud" merged in 1930 with the CMP (line 11 and the "first" line 14 were completed after the merger). CMP became state-owned in 1948 and renamed RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens).

Accidents

August 1903 Paris Metro train fire, caused by incompetence and panic, kills 84.

References

Bindi, A. & Lefeuvre, D. (1990). Le Métro de Paris: Histoire d'hier à demain, Rennes: Ouest-France. ISBN 2737302048. (French)
Gaillard, M. (1991). Du Madeleine-Bastille à Météor: Histoire des transports Parisiens, Amiens: Martelle. ISBN 2878900138. (French)

External links

Categories: Electric railways | Paris metro