RER B

A train at the Gare du Nord
Route length:	80 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Passengers daily	950,000
Stations	47
opening 0	1977 0

Train of the type MI 79 at the terminus of Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse

The RER B line is part of the RER high-speed rail network in Île-de-France . It connects places in the south-west of the agglomeration with places in its north and north-east, including Charles-de-Gaulle Airport , and crosses the center of Paris. The transport hubs served by the line also include the Paris-Nord and Massy TGV railway stations . After the RER A line with 1.4 million passengers a day and thus the most frequently used railway line in Europe and one of the most used railway lines worldwide, the RER B line is the second most used railway line in Europe with 950,000 daily passengers.

history

The starting point was the so-called Ligne de Sceaux , put into operation in 1846 , which established a connection between Paris and Sceaux and ended in Paris at the Denfert-Rochereau terminus . After several extensions to the southwest, the line in Paris was extended underground to Luxembourg station in 1895 .

After extensive renovation and electrification of the line, it was transferred from the then operating company Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans in 1937 to the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris , which operated the Paris Métro. It was to become part of a transport network that, based on the model of the S-Bahn in Germany, would connect the suburbs of Paris with each other and at the same time cross the city. The Second World War initially prevented these plans from being realized.

It was not until the 1970s that these plans were taken up again: the line was extended to Châtelet - Les Halles. Construction began at the end of 1973. Since December 1977, the line has been run as Line B of the RER system. At the same time, the RER A also went into operation on its first section in downtown Paris.

The Gare du Nord underground RER station during construction in 1979

On December 10, 1981, the extension of the route to Gare du Nord was completed and the SNCF routes Gare du Nord - Mitry-Claye, with the route designation B5, and Gare du Nord - Charles de Gaulle Airport, with the route designation B3, in integrated the RER route. The B3 and B5 travel to Aulnay-sous-Bois on a common trunk line. At the same time, line 4 of the Métro should also be relieved, which was already the line with the largest number of passengers back then.

The Gare du Nord - Mitry-Claye line is part of the La Plaine - Villers-Cotterêts - Loan - Hirson line opened between 1860 and 1870. The Aulnay - Roissy branch dates back to 1976.

Class MI 79, the first RER dual system train in the photo from 2004

Display board in the Gare du Nord station for the train called KEPI, which goes to Massy-Palaiseau

Illuminated display with all stations on the route: the train only stops at the marked stations

The two sections of the route are operated with different voltages: the RATP route south of the Gare du Nord with 1500 V direct current , the SNCF route north of the Gare du Nord with 25 kV alternating current . However, since no two-system vehicles were available at this point in time , passengers had to change trains at Gare du Nord, with the continuing train departing from the adjacent track on the same platform. It was not until June 1983 that the first trains ran the entire route continuously. In the beginning there were eight trains per hour, from September 1987 all trains ran continuously. The train frequency reaches up to 20 trains per hour. After appropriate training of the driving staff, from July 2008 it was gradually possible to dispense with the driver change between the staff of RATP and SNCF in the Gare du Nord. The system separation point is located south of the train station in the tunnel.

Train names

Formation of train names

In order to be able to determine at first glance in which direction or on which section a RER train is traveling, each train is marked with a four-digit letter code.

The first letter of this combination indicates the destination station. The second letter stands for the starting station and the course of the line, ie it indicates at which stations a stop is made. This means: all trains with the same name in the first and second letters have the same start and destination station and stop at the same stations along the way. The remaining two letters should be a purely phonetic addition to make it easier to memorize the "name".

This is followed by two digits: They are used to number the trains. All trains in one direction of travel get an odd number: 01, 03, ... 97, 99. The trains in the opposite direction get an even number: 02, 04, ... 96, 98. As soon as all numbers in one direction are used up counting starts again with 01, ... or 02, ... A new time block begins. Since approx. 270 trains travel per day and direction on the RER B route, you need six time blocks. A block of time lasts about four hours. Trains that correspond to a certain constellation of start and destination stations and stops on the way and start in the same time block have the same name because they differ in their train number. Trains with the same journey constellation from different time blocks differ in their names in the third and / or fourth letter.

Example: Trains from Massy-Palaiseau to Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV, which stop everywhere - except in Bagneux and Arcueil-Cachan: EBON: Departure from Massy-Palaiseau at 7:12, 7:24, 7:36, 7: 48 EBRE: 8:00, 8:12, 8:24, 8:36, 8:48 EBRI: 17:36, 17:48, 18:00, 18:12 EBOI: 18: 24-19: 18 all 12 Minutes

In this way you can avoid trains having the same name and number in the course of the day.

For better recognition, displays are also attached to each platform, which mark all the stations served with a luminous point. Line branch designations (B2-B5) noted on the line network map only appear on the station boards. They are no longer used for orientation.

Assignment 1st letter = end point of a route

A = Gare du Nord

E = Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle 2 TGV

G = Aulnay-sous-Bois

I = Mitry-Claye

J = Denfert-Rochereau

K = Massy Palaiseau

L = Orsay-Ville

P = Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse

Q = La Plaine - Stade de France

S = Robinson

U = Laplace

W = Train vide (Vide Voyageurs)

The "EFLA" train goes to Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, the "PEPE" train goes to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

Some examples

The following applies especially to trains to Charles-de-Gaulle Airport: EBOI, EBRI, ECCI, ERIO, EROC, ERSE, ERTE and ETOU start in Massy-Palaiseau; EMIR, EMUR, ENNE, EPAU and EPIN in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, EDDY, EDME and EPOI in Denfert-Rochereau, ONE in Orsay-Ville, ELOI in Robinson, EGRE in Laplace ...

Route

RER line B

Legend 5 Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle 2 TGV B3 5 Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle 1 Tremblay-en-France 4th Parc des Expositions Villepinte 4th Villepinte 4th Sevran-Beaudottes 5 Mitry-Claye B5 5 Villeparisis Mitry-le-Neuf 4th Vert-gallant 4th Sevran-Livry 4th Aulnay-sous-Bois 3 Le Blanc-Mesnil 3 Drancy 3 Le Bourget 3 La Courneuve - Aubervilliers 2 La Plaine - Stade de France Saint-Denis 1 Paris north 1 Châtelet - Les Halles 1 Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame 1 Luxembourg 1 Port-Royal 1 Denfert-Rochereau 1 Cité Universitaire 2 Gentilly 2 Laplace 2 Arceuil-Cachan 3 Bagneux 3 Bourg-la-Reine 3 Sceaux 3 Fontenay-aux-Roses 3 Robinson Sceaux B2 3 Parc de Sceaux 3 La Croix de Berny 3 Antony 4th Fontaine-Michalon 4th Les Baconnets 4th Massy-Verrières 4th Massy Palaiseau 4th Palaiseau 4th Palaiseau-Villebon 4th Lozère 4th Le Guichet 5 Orsay-Ville 5 Bures-sur-Yvette 5 La Hacquinière 5 Gif 5 Courcelle-sur-Yvette 5 Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse B4

Like all RER lines, the route has several branches:

In the north of Paris ( SNCF ):

• to Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport and TGV train station
• to Mitry-Claye ( Département Seine-et-Marne )

In the south of Paris ( RATP ):

• to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ( Yvelines department )
• after Robinson ( Sceaux , in the Hauts-de-Seine department )

The trains run between the Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bourg-la-Reine stations on the same route and then branch off on different routes to their respective final destination.

In the center of Paris, the RER B runs north-south from Gare du Nord via Châtelet - Les Halles and Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame in the direction of Cité Universitaire .

Transfer options

You can change between all trains between the Gare du Nord and Denfert-Rochereau stations as well as at the on-the-go stations served by all trains.

• In Aulnay sous-Bois, take tram line 1
• At Gare du Nord , take the RER lines D and E , metro lines 2 , 4 , 5 and the SNCF trains
• In Châtelet - Les Halles on the RER lines A and D and the metro lines 4, 7 , 11 and 14
• In Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame , take the RER line C and metro line 10
• In Denfert-Rochereau on metro lines 4 and 6 and the Orlybus
• In Cité Universitaire on tram line 3a
• In Antony on the Orlyval
• In Massy-Verrières on the RER line C
• In Massy-Palaiseau on RER line C and the trains of the SNCF
• At the Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle on the TGV

Without changing you can take line B z. B. the Stade de France and Notre Dame .

Improvements to the route

The RER B Nord + project

Over the years, with increasing numbers of passengers - most recently by 35% within 10 years, with up to 900,000 passengers a day - the RER B has become the RER line with the lowest punctuality rate. That is why the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (short name STIF) , which is responsible for local public transport in Île-de-France, decided in 2003 to fundamentally renovate the line as the first RER line - starting with those operated by SNCF RER B routes north of the Gare du Nord. Work began in 2008. The cost of improving the infrastructure is around 250 million euros.

One of the goals was a restructuring of the operating procedure in order to increase the attractiveness of the line through better punctuality of the trains, a simplified timetable and a higher train frequency.

At the same time, the stations and platforms were modernized to make them more inviting and more accessible. 14 escalators and 25 elevators were installed in the stations. The total length of the covered platforms increased from 630 m to 1835 m. The Vert-Galant station also received two pedestrian underpasses. The platforms in all stations have been raised to allow level access to the trains, which speeds up passenger changes. In addition, more modern or modernized trains are increasingly being used.

It was important to separate the RER traffic from the other trains that run the same routes (Transilien, freight traffic). There should therefore be two tracks available for the RER trains that are not used by other trains.

After the work on the route has been completed, the following simplified timetable will apply: During rush hour (Monday to Friday in the direction of Paris from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; or Monday to Friday from Paris from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) A train every three minutes on the main Paris-Nord line to Aulnay-sous-Bois. On the two branches Aulnay - Roissy and Aulnay - Mitry-Claye the trains run every 6 minutes.

Outside these times, trains run every 7.5 minutes on the main line and every 15 minutes on the branch lines.

Refurbishment of Denfert-Rochereau station

Between October 2013 and December 2014, track 3 of Denfert-Rochereau station will be prepared as a possible terminus for trains from the south. This should make it possible to take trains out of traffic in the event of disruptions in the city center. The passengers then have the option of transferring to another RER train or the Métro. Before work began, track 3 was used as a siding for RER trains.

RER B vehicles

The first renovated multiple unit of the BR MI 79

The fleet of the RER B lines comprises 119 MI 79 trains ; 55 of them were completely renovated by the beginning of 2014. 50% of the renovation costs are borne by the STIF. In addition, 12 trains of the MI 84 series were relocated from the RER A to the RER B lines.

The bombings of 1995/96

→ Main article : Series of attacks in France in 1995

In 1995 there were a series of attacks on public institutions in France. Two attacks were carried out in the area of ​​the RER B line:

• Attack on 25 July 1995 on a train at Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station: 8 people lost their lives. 117 people were injured.
• Attack on December 3, 1996 in Port-Royal train station : 4 people were killed. There were around 170 injured.

Web links

Commons : RER B  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures of RER trains
• STIF, Schéma Directeur du RER B Sud with information on current operations and planning (PDF, 24 MB, French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ LCI.fr: RER A - "10 seconds de retard, 15,000 voyageurs affectés!" ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ leparisien.fr: Transports: usagers et élus disent "non au Charles-de-Gaulle express" oui "au RER B"
3. ↑ Modernization de la ligne B du RER: Nouvelle étape de la suppression de la relève des conducteurs  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. RATP and SNCF press release dated February 3, 2009  
4. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Roadmap for 2014 
5. ↑ Publication of the STIF: Study on the status of the RER B Nord + project, status autumn 2013 (French), accessed on May 28, 2014 ( memento of the original from April 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated February 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Communication from RATP on the changes in Denfert-Rochereau station (French). 
7. ↑ STIF communication (updated on September 26, 2014; French), accessed on October 2, 2014