2023-08-22 21:32:11
One year before the Olympics, the Paris metro, more than a century old, is undergoing a transformation. Le Figaro takes stock of the lines concerned and the next deadlines.
It’s a question of comfort for everyday users, but also of image for Paris and its region. Less than a year from the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the capital, modernization continues in Ile-de-France public transport. The culmination of this policy launched by the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, when she was elected in 2016: the replacement or renovation of the oldest trains, some of which are nearly 50 years old and loyal service. What are the latest news? A look at what’s changed recently, and what’s to come in the coming weeks.
On line 8, the second longest in the network linking Balard to Créteil-Pointe du lac, the first two fully renovated MF77 trains arrived this summer. Four others should be deployed during the month of September, the objective being to reach the 44 renovated trains in 2030. An investment of more than 40 million euros for Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the authority organizer of public transport in the Ile-de-France region, which thus intends toimprove passenger comfort“. From 2030, the MF77 trains – for Métros Fer ordered in 1977 – will begin to be definitively replaced by the MF19, ordered in 2019.
These new brand new metros have been ordered from the Alstom-Bombardier consortium, which must deliver more than 400 from 2030. Deemed “stronger, more efficient and more comfortable“, the MF19 also have a capacity of 13% higher than that of the trains which circulate today on the network. Ultimately, these trains will equip eight metro lines, including lines 8, 10, 3bis, 7bis, 13, 3, 7 and 12.
New on the network
In the meantime, other upgrades are underway, including on line 11, which connects Châtelet to Mairie des Lilas. After no less than sixty years of running straight on the rails, the 23 old MP59 trainsets – for Metros on Tires ordered in 1959 – which equipped the line have begun to be gradually replaced by 20 brand new MP14 trainsets. In September, 18 of them should circulate. “Longer, reliable and comfortable, MP14 trains are already running on line 14 and line 4, in their automatic and longer version“, also underlines IDFM, which specifies that on line 11, unlike the two automatic lines mentioned above, the trains “will be driven by drivers».
An MP14 train on line 11 Virginie Valdois – RATP
In September, new trains are also expected on line 6, which connects Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile to Nation, with seven new MP89 metros – Metros on Tires ordered in 1989 – freshly transferred since April. To replace the old MP73 trains, almost fifty years old. Before the end of the year, ten of these trains will run on the line, known to cross the Seine in front of the Eiffel Tower. By 2026, a total of 45 MP89 trains from line 4 will come to replace the MP73 of line 6, destined to be reformed.
The interior of the new MP89 trains on line 6 Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM)
On line 14, the deployment of the brand new metros continues. By the end of the year, the line will be fully equipped with these eight-car automatic MP14s. Ready for its extension to Saint-Denis-Pleyel to the north, then to Orly airport to the south, the following year. So many new features particularly awaited by users, who are numerous on social networks to complain about the wear and tear of certain trains, in particular on lines considered as annexes.
Some people are amused by the “small» renovations, which seem to have been done in order to put the dust under the rug. This is the case, for example, with certain MF88s on line 7bis, which connects Louis Blanc to Pré-Saint-Gervais, whose anthracite gray floor was repainted this summer to become pearl grey. A change that has indeed been noticed by this surfer passionate about the Parisian metro, who nevertheless considers “that the whole thing always looks gray».
An observation shared by the president of the FNAUT Île-de-France Pélissier, who mentions “very old equipment» which are still running on the Ile-de-France network. The user representative is still pleased with these new deliveries: “it feels good». «Deliveries continue on lines 4 and 14, there are renovations on lines 6 and 8, that’s good“, he believes. However, he expresses some fears concerning the lines whose equipment will not be renewed before 2030. “Today, what worries us is the MF19s which must be delivered on line 10 in 2025. Just like lines 7, 8 and 12, on which new equipment will not arrive until 2030. Marc Pélissier remains optimistic: “2023 is going to be an exceptional year», with the extensions of lines 11 and 13, of the RER E with the Eole project and of the T3 tram.
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