RATP series MP 55
The MP 55 series is a vehicle type of the Parisian transport company RATP . Apart from the MP 51 test vehicle, of which only one was built, it was the first series of the Paris Métro to run on air-filled rubber tires .
prehistory
1931 the company presented Michelin a light railcars for railways before, the wheels with pneumatic tires were provided. The advantages were a quieter run, which was accompanied by better acceleration and braking behavior and ability to climb.
Opened on July 19, 1900 Métro ( subway ) from Paris experimented in August 1951, rubber-tired trains. The year before, radial tires had come onto the market that could carry four tons of load with a radius of less than one meter. In addition, the ideas of how such a vehicle could be kept in lane became more precise. On the route, this should be done with the help of horizontally arranged track guidance tires at the ends of the car, which are forced into the driveway by lateral track guidance beams. In the area of the turnouts , the flange of any additional metal wheels should guide the vehicle.
The rail vehicle factory of the Brissonneau et Lotz company in Creil delivered the prototype , which was given the series designation MP 51 and remained a loner. It was 15.4 meters long and had a driver's cab at both ends. For the test operation, the 770 meter long Voie navette operating track between the Porte des Lilas and Pré-Saint-Gervais stations was converted accordingly. It quickly became apparent that the vehicle ran quieter than those on metal wheels. However, the comfort of the passengers set limits to the better values for acceleration and braking. Various incidents were simulated to test their impact on the vehicle and possible improvements. The vehicle drove with a “flat” or a blocked tire. From April 1952, the railcar , which also served as a test vehicle for the (semi) automatic train control Pilotage automatique , was used in passenger service.
History and description
The satisfactory results during operation of the prototype led to the decision to convert an entire line to rubber-tire operation. Was selected metro line 11 , the 6.3 km long from the station des Lilas Mairie in the northeast to Châtelet leads in the city center. The then shortest line of the metro had a winding route with ramps of 40 ‰. There were supposed to be trains that consisted of two end cars, each with a driver's cab, a central motor car without a driver's cab and a lined up sidecar .
On 15 December 1954, the RATP ordered from Renault 20 motor coaches with driver's cab (car numbers M from 3001 to 3020), 10 railcars without driving cab (N 3501-3510) and 10 sidecar (AB 5501-5510). Brissonneau et Lotz received an order for 16 end rail cars (M 3021–3036), 8 middle rail cars (N 3511–3518) and 7 side cars (AB 5511–5517). The driver's cabless railcars were renamed N 4001-4018 in 1962.
The reconstruction of the line began in 1954, the Ateliers des Lilas depot at its eastern end point was adapted in 1956. On July 27, 1956, the N 3501 central railcar, the first vehicle of the series, was presented to the public. The first train was delivered on October 10 of the same year, with test runs initially taking place during the nightly breaks. A month later it was first used in passenger traffic. Until all vehicles had arrived in October 1957, there was mixed traffic with the conventional Sprague-Thomson vehicles , which were gradually replaced by the new trains.
Seventeen four-part trains were formed with the vehicles, two end cars and one middle railcar served as a reserve. The vehicles of the two manufacturers were not mixed. The trains on the seals of the three front windows were easily distinguishable: those of the Renault railcars were black, Brissonneau et Lotz used cream-colored ones. The use of five-car trains was not possible due to the small size of the depot. It only has an area of 2000 m² and is completely underground.
The end railcars (designation: M) were 15.40 meters long, the cab-less central railcars (N) and the side cars (AB) 14.80 meters. The car bodies were made of steel, with four automatically closing double doors on both sides that ran into door pockets. The automatic opening took place after actuating the bolt. The train was two-class, the first class compartment was in the sidecar, which was painted cream white in this area. The original color of the rest of the train was blue with a light blue ribbon of windows.
Each railcar had two bogies , each of which was moved by two 90 hp electric motors . The H-shaped bogies of the two types differed in terms of the position of the engines (inclined at Renault, horizontal at Brissonneau et Lotz) and their connection with the differential gears . Renault manufactured the bogies itself, and Alsthom was the supplier for Brissonneau et Lotz . The possible acceleration of 1.45 m / s² was deliberately reduced to 1.30 m / s². Two different control systems were used for the railcars lined up in the train: JH ( Jeumont-Heidmann ; code: multiple control by means of a servomotor driven camshaft ) in the vehicles from Brissonneau et Lotz and CEM ( Commande électropneuatique , electro-pneumatic control ) in the Renault railcars. The brakes worked electro-pneumatically.
Between 1965 and 1967 the trains were equipped with the Pilotage automatique train control system, and in 1967 with the centralized operations control system (PCC) . In 1975 the braking system was changed, in 1977 the vehicles were modernized. They received seats like those in the MP series 73 were installed. The blue outer surfaces of most vehicles became darker, including car part 1. Class was painted royal blue with a white ribbon. When the other metro trains were given the current colors from 1992, this was not done for this series because it was foreseeable that it would be decommissioned. The old RATP logo on the end railcars was replaced by the new one. In 1982 the first two vehicles with the M 3028 and N 4014 were parked, the others ran until at least 1995. They were only used on route 11.
Last use
On January 30, 1999, the last train of the series was withdrawn and ceremoniously adopted. Until the end, some of the cars had kept their original paint scheme. The last train was technically and color-wise mixed: end car M 3030 (B & L) and sidecar AB 5503 (Renault) light blue with cream-white compartment 1. Class, at the other end the N 4009 and M 3001 (both Renault) medium powered rail cars, royal blue / white
Whereabouts
No complete train of the MP 55 series has survived, and there is no longer a driver's cab without a central multiple unit. The RATP keeps vehicles M 3011 and AB 5517. The M 3001 railcar is in the Renault Museum in Flins-sur-Seine , M 3002 and M 3032 are privately owned.
Conclusion
The operation of the trains showed that due to their efficiency, the transport capacity increased by 5.5% during rush hour . The quieter running and the lower volume made them appear superior to conventional trains. In 1959, a report came to the conclusion that, despite the expenses for the route conversion, it made economic sense to replace the trains on metal wheels with rubber-tired trains in the long term. The slightly modified successor series MP 59 was ordered in 1960 , initially for line 1 . It gradually replaced the MP 55 on line 11 from 1995 and is still in use there in 2014.
Trivia
In the 1967 film The Ice Cold Angel by Jean-Pierre Melville , the main actor Alain Delon uses an MP series train 55.
Web links
- The principle behind the rubber-tired metro (English; Attention: Picture A MP-55 train at the Porte-Maillot station shows an MP 59)
- Paris Metro Historic scenes from the 50`s with MP51 and MP55 Video with MP 51 and MP 55 (production, presentation, first trip) at youtube.com
literature
- Jean Tricoire: Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes. De Bienvenüe à Météor . 2nd Edition. La Vie du Rail, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-902808-87-9 .
- Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook . 3. Edition. Capital Transport, Harrow Weald 1999, ISBN 1-85414-212-7 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook , 3rd edition, p. 71
- ^ Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook , 3rd Edition, p. 75
- ^ Jean Robert: Notre Métro . 2nd Edition. J. Robert, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1983, p. 312 .
- ^ Jean Tricoire: Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes , 2nd edition, p. 94
- ↑ a b c Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook , 3rd edition, p. 72
