Paris
CNN
—
With its ornate Art Nouveau entrances, maze-like tunnels, and trains that rattle beneath and sometimes above some of the world’s most famous streets, this transport network inspires and inspires. This is the transportation network. movie, novel and poem.
There are stations named after South American names Revolutionary, president of the united states and Soviet victory. Fittingly, the city is home to some of the world’s most famous galleries. The station is considered a work of art In my own right.
But Paris’ metro rail system, built in the 1900s and currently transporting nearly 4 million passengers each day, has struggled to keep up with modern commuting demands, and the city’s growing population has left its facilities aging. and infrastructure is creaking.
For many people in Paris, especially those who live or work in less fashionable suburbs, it is difficult to get around the city without setting up a route through the central district, and travel time is limited. traffic will increase and traffic congestion will worsen.
But change is coming in a big way. The historic Paris Metro is about to undergo its most significant upgrade in decades with the arrival of the Grand Paris Express. The Grand Paris Express is a 200 km (120 mile) new system that will add his four lines and 68 brand new stations to the network.
These mainly connect suburban towns without passing through the densely populated city of Paris, and add an outer ring to the underground map of Paris, which previously consisted of 14 lines extending like spokes from the center. Become something to do.
It was a huge undertaking. Construction of the line, which began in 2016, is Europe’s largest private infrastructure project, according to the French government. Given its scale, it has inevitably experienced delays.
Barry Nield/CNN
Some of Paris’ old metro stations are works of art.
However, at the end of last month, the test run of the first train of a new subway line was held at a train depot on the outskirts of Champisy-sur-Marne, and a large number of invited spectators gathered to see the city, and the city took on a typical Parisian splendor. It didn’t stop. .
The first 108-metre six-car train built by Alstom for the Grand Paris Express, it debuted to victory music and a show of white, blue and red laser lights in the colors of the French flag.
“To change people’s lives, we need to change the way people move,” French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said at an event on November 28. The event included a successful two-kilometre test run along a section of one of the railways, Line 15. new route.
France hopes that the Grand Paris Express will significantly reduce travel time from suburb to suburb on public transport and reduce car use for residents of the Paris metropolitan area.
Dominique Perrault Architecture / Grand Paris Society
A rendering showing what part of Villejuif station, one of the stations on the new Grand Paris Express network, will look like.
Unlike other subway lines, we will use driverless trains to create a fully automated rapid transit network. This means you don’t have to hire or train new drivers, and you’re more resilient to disruptions caused by strikes.
“We are on the right track for success,” Beaune laughed. “This will be a good example for cities across France.”
Paris was one of the first cities in the world to have a subway system. The first line was opened in his year 1900 as part of the city’s construction work in preparation for hosting the Olympic Games that year. Over the next few decades, it expanded rapidly and widely.
Prior to its opening, the Grand Paris Express is a vast 800-kilometre megasystem that includes 16 metro lines in the city center and five RER commuter lines to the surrounding suburbs. It was evolving.
The new project will introduce four new lines (15, 16, 17 and 18), as well as extensions of the existing lines 11 and 14.
Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
The new service will be added to the RER network connecting the greater Paris area.
For many people living in cities, new routes cannot come soon enough.
“I love living in Versailles, but it can be difficult at times,” said Lauren Bain, 26, a journalist working in Paris and living in Versailles, about 20 kilometers southwest of the capital.
Bain said he attends a church in the neighboring town of St. Oban, which is ostensibly a 20-minute drive but a two-hour bus ride away. It may take more time. She was stuck in a half-submerged bus during heavy rain.
She commutes to central Paris on the RER C line, but despite the convenience of the Versailles station, she doesn’t like it.
“That’s terrible,” she said. “I always arrive late to work! Just earlier this week, the train I was on was canceled for no reason.”
Her options will increase even more with the opening of the new Grand Paris Express Line 18, connecting Versailles directly to Saint-Aubin and Paris-Orly Airport, Paris’ second busiest airport.
“Line 18 cannot open any faster than this,” Bain said.
Mohamed Mezghani, director general of the Brussels-based International Public Transport Association, said the new line will put Paris at the forefront of urban public transport networks alongside Tokyo, Moscow and Washington DC, and will reduce environmental impact through the interconnection of suburbs. He stated that he aims to reduce the
“The Grand Paris Express is a ring line, so it facilitates movement from suburb to suburb,” Mezghani said.
“People in big cities are starting to realize that cars are not the answer, that congestion is only getting worse, and that building more roads will only create more traffic.
“We need a modern version of public transportation.”
Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images
The new line will connect Paris with two major international airports.
One of the big questions for many Parisians, and tourists alike, is whether the new network will be operational in time for the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be primarily centered around the French capital.
This was the original plan when the project was announced by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, long before the city won its Olympic bid. However, the schedule was extended due to repeated delays.
Sarkozy and his successor, Francois Hollande, had previously promised to open all of Line 14, as well as parts of Lines 15, 16, 17 and 18, which connect Paris’s two international airports.
But the project has suffered various setbacks in recent years, including construction site flooding, delays in equipment deliveries, and perhaps most significantly, the coronavirus pandemic.
And only the extension of Line 14 to Orly Airport is expected to be completed in time, eight months before the 2024 Olympic Games. According to the project’s official website, the other lines are scheduled to come into operation gradually from the end of 2025.
The French Transport Ministry remains optimistic about the impact the new rail line will have on Paris, saying it has secured network capacity in time for the Olympics, which are expected to bring millions of tourists to the already popular summer destination. claims to increase by 15%.
“Our action plan is clear and we are on track,” he told CNN.
Even if it is behind schedule, the new line will further enhance the attractiveness of the French capital.
Author Ernest Hemingway once said: “There are only two places in the world where we can live happily: at home and in Paris.” And with the opening of the new Grand Express line, it is hoped that the distance between them will become a little closer.