Metro line 14 (Paris)

map
Route length:	9.2 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Opening:	1998
Passengers (daily) :	240,000
Stations:	9
Legend Saint-Denis - Pleyel (from 2024) Mairie de Saint-Ouen (from 2020) Depot and parking facility (from 2020) Clichy - Saint-Ouen (from 2020) Porte de Clichy (from 2021) Pont-Cardinet (from 2020) Line 2 Saint-Lazare RER A Madeleine Pyramides Châtelet Line 5 Canal Saint-Martin Gare de Lyon Track connection to line 6 Bercy Cour Saint-Emilion His Bibliothèque François Mitterrand Olympiades Tolbiac Nationale depot

The line 14 of the Paris Metro is the youngest and the first fully automated route unmanned trains. It connects the stations of Saint-Lazare in the northwest and Olympiades in the southeast of Paris .

When completed, it will be the only line on the Grand Paris Express that crosses the Paris metropolitan area.

introduction

Sign for line 14 under the original name Météor (photo 2003)

Line 14, also called Météor after the abbreviation for MÉT ro E st- O uest R apide (East-West-Schnell-U-Bahn), was opened in 1998 and is the youngest, fastest and most modern line in the Paris Métronet. Over a total length of 9.2 km, it serves nine stations with an average distance of 1.1 kilometers in a total travel time of seven minutes. That is more than twice the usual 500 meters. Line 14 runs every two to three minutes during rush hour ; 90 seconds would currently be technically possible. Due to the high acceleration and top speed of the vehicles together with the modern expansion of the driving tubes, the otherwise usual travel speed increases from 25 km / h to 40 km / h. The station tracks, secured by glass tunnels, also contribute to this, allowing high entry and exit speeds. The doors attached to the platform edge are opened and closed simultaneously with the vehicle doors.

Image of a vehicle from M2 Métro Lausanne , identical vehicle from Alstom, the passenger is sitting in the cockpit

Similar to the VAL metros, line 14 is also operated without a driver. The passenger can even take a seat in the “driver's cab”. In 2007 there are transfer options to nine other metro lines and all five RER lines. A southern extension to the two terminals of Paris-Orly airport - partly running on the route of the current Orlyval - is planned, the total travel time from the city center should only be around 20 minutes.

The train stations are very clearly laid out thanks to their layout and open construction, as well as the use of lots of glass. The trains do not need a turning loop, but return in a further piece of tunnel behind the respective terminus. This means that a later extension of the route is relatively easy.

history

Line 14 was planned and built within ten years. It is the first new line since 1935 and the second network expansion since the Second World War that is not an extension of an existing line to the banlieue . The reasons for the construction were, on the one hand, a better connection to the Gare de Lyon station , on the other hand, the relief of the RER line A and the M1 metro line , as well as the connection of former industrial areas in the 13th arrondissement, which are now development areas.

The whole project was carried out under the name Météor . Two routes have been considered: a Maison Blanche - Porte Maillot line next to the RER A or a République - Saint-Lazare line . The latter seemed less interesting, the relief of the RER A was more important. At the same time planned SNCF project EOLE ( e st O uest L iaison E xpress ), a compound of the eastern suburbs with the station Saint-Lazare . Both projects were approved by the National Assembly in October 1989 . In November 1989, the route was set to the Maison Blanche - Saint-Lazare route .

The RATP had some experience in the construction of underground routes, but they took a lot of time for the preparatory work, so that construction did not begin until 1991. For this purpose, a tunnel boring machine called Sandrine was built, which bored 4.5 kilometers through the city from Madeleine train station to the port of Arsenal, at a speed of 350 meters per month. This all together took 22 months, from December 1993 to August 1995. The crossing under the Seine was carried out using the caisson method. From March 1995 to March 1997, tracks were laid and the electrical equipment installed, and that year the first MP 89s also went to trial.

The stations were equipped between 1997 and October 1998. The aesthetic guidelines differ fundamentally from the previous ones. Lots of light and luminous materials were used, as well as lots of glass and metal.

The original plans included costs of 4.4 billion francs for the line. Because of the cost explosion, the construction of the route to Saint-Lazare - ZAC de Tolbiac (today Bibliothèque François Mitterrand ) was reduced , but a total of 6.1 billion francs was built. Likewise, an opening date in 1996 was initially aimed for, in the end the RATP could not even fall back on the Météor for the 1998 World Cup .

Since the line still had to be built, but test drives to check the driverless controls and the platform screen doors and to optimize the system should be started early on, these took place from 1994 to 1998 on the La Base d'Essais de la Petite Ceinture (BEPC), an approximately one kilometer long section of the so-called Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture at the former La Glacière-Gentilly train station, adapted to the task . A newly developed type of turnout was also tested. The maximum speed in these tests was 30 km / h.

On October 15, 1998, the first driverless fully automated railways in Paris initially ran between Madeleine and Bibliothèque . The route was opened by President Jacques Chirac . The platforms are provided with glass doors that separate them from the tracks. The trains stop exactly in front of them. Due to the greater distance between stations (1.1 kilometers compared to 500–700 meters on conventional lines), the travel speed also increases from 25 km / h to 40 km / h, which in turn increases capacity by 33% compared to the other metro lines. Line 14 operates with the successful rubber tire drive. It is also possible to service the vehicles, which are almost identical to those on Line 1, in the Fontenay vehicle depot on Line 1. The way there is done on line 6 via Bercy - Nation .

Line number 14 had previously been assigned for the Invalides - Porte de Vanves line before it was merged with line 13.

In 2000, the link with the RER line C was put into operation at the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand station , whose stop at Boulevard Masséna , 200 m away, was given up. On December 16, 2003, the extension to Saint-Lazare station was opened. Line 14 now offers transfer options to all five RER lines, as well as nine metro lines.

Today's Olympiades terminus was opened on June 26, 2007, putting the 1.6-kilometer section into operation, which connects to what was then the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand terminus .

Automatic operation

The Météor line is the first fully automatic metro system whose train protection is based on the principle of moving blocks , in order to bring train headway times closer to the physically possible minimum and thus to increase line capacity. VAL and the MAGGALY system of Métro Lyon as direct predecessor systems, however, are based on fixed block divisions . The underlying technology was largely developed by Matra Transport International and has since been marketed under the name SAET (Système d'Automatisation de l'Exploitation des Trains).

For the first time, an infrared-based obstacle detection system for platform areas was installed here, which is also used in a further developed form on the Nuremberg subway . Another similarity is the possibility of mixed operation of automatically and manually controlled vehicles, which Météor implemented in practice for the first time.

The SAET system was implemented on the software side in 150,000 lines Ada and is one of the first examples of the extensive use of formal methods (specifically the B method ) in an industrial project.

Passenger numbers

For the start of operations in 1998, 24,000 passengers per hour and direction were originally expected with a cycle time of 105 s. In 2003 the number of passengers before the extension to Saint Lazare was just under 41 million, with a daily average of 140,000 on weekdays, 85,000 on Saturdays and 60,000 on Sundays.

In December 2007, a new route record was set with 450,000 people transported in a single day. In 2011 the number of travelers reached 500,000.

At the beginning of 2014, up to 600,000 passengers per day are regularly determined. As a result, since the beginning of June 2014 in the morning rush hour (i.e. from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) the headway time has been reduced from 95 s to 85 s. This means that an additional 4 trains run in this hour, which corresponds to an increase in supply of 10%. In the afternoon, between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., a total of six additional trips will be made.

Planning

Grand Paris Express

The extended line 14 becomes part of the Grand Paris Express system as the Blue Line

Several extension variants of the line have been discussed in the past. These took shape in 2013 through the planning of the new driverless metro system for the greater Paris area, the Grand Paris Express . Line 14 is to become part of the system to be built by 2030. To this end, it is to be extended in the north to Saint-Denis Pleyel by 2023 and offer transfer options there to lines 15, 16 and 17, which are still to be built and all of which will be part of the Grand Paris Express system. In the south, the route to Orly Airport will be extended via Maison Blanche with the option of changing to ring line 15. Completion is planned for around 2027. With a journey time of around 20 minutes, this would be by far the fastest connection between the airport and the city center, which also requires no transfers. During the rush hour, the trains should run one behind the other with just 85 seconds apart. Finally, at Orly Airport, there will be a connection to line 18, the south-west route, which will connect Orly with Versailles.

The future line 14

The extension of line 14 to the north by 5.5 km is also intended to relieve the load on line 13 , which is being used to the limit of its capacity and which runs here partially parallel. Four new stations will be built: Pont-Cardinet , Porte de Clichy (change to the north-west branch of line 13) , Clichy - Saint-Ouen (change to the RER C) and Mairie de Saint-Ouen (change to the north-east branch of line 13) and improved the transport links of the 8th, 9th and 17th arrondissements of Paris and of Clichy-la-Garenne and Saint-Ouen . Access to the platforms is handicapped accessible with elevators or stairs and escalators. In connection with the extension, the line will also have a depot that will be accessible from the terminus.

To increase the capacity of line 14 to up to 40,000 passengers per hour, 8-part instead of the previous 6-part train sets will be used in the future. However, this requires corresponding modifications (i.e. lengthening the platforms; enlarging the entrances or creating new entrances) at the existing stations.

At the end of 2013, the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF for short) approved 450 million euros for the first tranche of the extension to the Mairie de Saint-Ouen station. The Société du Grand Paris contributes 59%, the Région Île-de-France 19%, the City of Paris 20%, and the two departments Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine each 1%. This is intended to finance the structural work for the tunnel, the railway stations to be built and the depot with sidings. The total costs are estimated at 1.38 billion euros.

The construction work has already started: after preparatory work (laying supply lines), two tunnel boring machines have been in use since 2014. Completion is expected to take place in mid-December 2020; only the Porte de Clichy station will open a month later in January 2021.

Picture gallery

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  Saint-Lazare train station with track tunnel and automatic doors

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  Châtelet train station

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  Passenger information in the Châtelet station: the waiting times for the next two trains in the direction of Saint-Lazare are displayed

literature

• Jean Tricoire: Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes: De Bienvenüe à Météor . 3. Edition. La Vie du Rail, Paris 2004. ISBN 2-915034-32-X .
• Jean-Paul Perrin (editor): Special Météor . Revue générale des chemins de fer, Paris, June 1996

Web links

Commons : Line 14 of the Paris Métro  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• the RATP regarding necessary modifications of the existing stations (French) ( Memento from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Pont Cardinet metro station (image and text (French)) on metronews accessed on April 16, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The experimental station 'la Petite Ceinture (BEPC)'. In: Métro-pole. May 14, 2004, archived from the original on October 24, 2013 ; accessed on December 19, 2019 (French). 
2. ↑ Paris Experience Group: The 9 stations on Line 14. Accessed December 19, 2019 . 
3. ^ ^{A b c d} Jörg Schütte: The automation system of the Météor line in Paris . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . 1997, p. 542-547 .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Pierre Lecompte, Pierre-Joseph Beaurent: Le Système d'Automatisation de l'Exploitation des Trains . In: Revue générale des chemins de fer . June 1996, p. 31-51 .
5. ^ Jean-Louis Boulanger: Formal Methods: Industrial Use from Model to the Code . 2012, ISBN 978-1-118-61437-2 , 2nd chapter.
6. ↑ Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF): increase in the number of trains on line 14 during rush hour. June 5, 2014, archived from the original on June 28, 2014 ; accessed on December 19, 2019 (French). 
7. ↑ http://www.societedugrandparis.fr/ligne-bleue
8. ↑ Greater Paris gets a metro network for 27 billion euros. In: orf.at , March 6, 2013, accessed on November 21, 2017.
9. ↑ http://www.societedugrandparis.fr/la-carte-du-projet
10. ^ STIF: Extension of line 14 to 'Mairie de Saint-Ouen' as relief for the line February 13-17, 2012, archived from the original ; accessed on December 19, 2019 (French). 
11. ↑ http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/c_11634/carte-d-identite/
12. ↑ Mobilicités of October 23, 2014 (French), accessed on May 3, 2015
13. ^ Métro 14: North extension; Information about the construction project. Retrieved December 19, 2019 (French).