RER
Encyclopedia
The RER is a rapid transit
system in France
serving Paris
and its suburbs. The RER is an integration of a modern city-centre underground rail and a pre-existing set of commuter rail lines. It has several connections with the Paris Métro
within the city of Paris. Within the city, the RER functions like the Métro, but as it has fewer stops, the system acts as one of express train
s. Since 1999 the network has consisted of five lines: A
, B
, C
, D
and E
. The RER is still expanding; Line E, which opened in 1999, is planned for westward extension by 2020.
, and partly by SNCF
, the national rail operator. In spite of this, the system uses a single fare structure and no transfer is needed between parts run by the two operators. Total traffic on the central sections of lines A and B, operated by RATP, was 452 million in 2006; in the same year, total traffic on all lines operated by SNCF (both RER and Transilien
trains) was 657 million.
RATP manages 65 RER stations, including all stations on Line A east of Nanterre-Préfecture and those on the branch terminating at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
. It also operates stations on Line B South of Gare du Nord
. Other stations on the two lines and those on lines C, D and E are operated by SNCF. Of the RER stations operated by RATP, 9 have interchanges with Métro lines, and 9 allow transfer to SNCF's Transilien service.
(Metropolitan Railway Company of Paris) for a "métropolitain express" (express metro
). The company's post-war successor, RATP, revived the scheme in the 1950s, and in 1960 an interministerial committee decided to go ahead with the construction of an east-west line. Subsequently, the central part of the RER was completed in a large-scale civil engineering project between 1962 and 1977. As its instigator, RATP was granted authority to run the new link. The embryonic (and as yet unnamed) RER was not properly conceived until the 1965 Schéma directeur d'aménagement et d'urbanisme, which designed an H-shaped network with two north-south routes. Only a single north-south link crossing the Left Bank has so far come to fruition, although Paris Métro's Line 13 has been extended to perform a similar function. Between 1969 and 1970, RATP purchased the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines from SNCF.
, the central section of which was opened station by station between 1969 and 1977. On its completion, Line A was joined by the initial southern section of the north-south Line B
. During this first phase, six new stations were built, three of which are entirely underground.
Construction was inaugurated by Robert Buron
, then-Minister for Public Works, at the Pont de Neuilly
on 6 July 1961, four years before the publication of the official network blueprint. The rapid expansion of the La Défense
business district in the west made the western section of the first line a priority. Nation
, the first new station, was opened on 12 December 1969 and temporarily became the new western terminus of the Vincennes line. The section from Étoile
(not yet renamed after Charles de Gaulle
) to La Défense was opened a few weeks later. It subsequently extended eastward to the newly-built Auber
station on 23 November 1971, and westward to Saint-Germain-en-Laye
on 1 October 1972. The latter was achieved through a connection to the existing Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, the oldest railway line into Paris, at Nanterre
.
The RER network came into being on 9 December 1977 with the joining of the eastern Nation
-Boissy
segment and the western Auber
-Saint-Germain-en-Laye
segment at Châtelet – Les Halles
. The southern Ligne de Sceaux
was simultaneously extended from Luxembourg
to meet Line A at Châtelet – Les Halles, becoming the new Line B. The system of line letters was introduced to the public on this occasion, though it had been used internally at RATP and SNCF for some time.
2 billion were committed to the project in the budget. This equates to roughly € 1.37 billion in 2005 terms, and closer to double that as a proportion of the region's (then much smaller) economic output. This and subsequent spending was partly sustained by the versement transport
, a local tax levied on businesses. The tax was introduced in July 1971 and remains in effect.
The predominance of suburban SNCF track on the RER network explains why RER trains run on the left, like SNCF trains (except in Alsace-Moselle
), contrary to the Métro where trains run on the right. RER trains run by the two different operators share the same track infrastructure, a practice called interconnection. On the RER, interconnection required the development of specific trains (MI 79 series for Materiel d'Interconnexion 1979, and MI 2N
series for Materiel d'Interconnexion à 2 niveaux (double-deck interconnection stock)) capable of operating under both 1.5 kV direct current on the RATP network and 25 kV / 50 Hz alternating current on the SNCF network. The MS 61 series (Matériel Suburbain 1961) can be used only on the 1.5 kV DC network.
The RER's tunnels have unusually large cross-sections. This is due to a 1961 decision to build according to a standard set by the Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, with space for overhead catenary
power supply to trains. Single-track tunnels measure 6.30 m across and double-track tunnels up to 8.70 m, meaning a cross-sectional area of up to 50 square metres, larger than that of the stations on many comparable underground rail networks.
opened between 1969 and 1977 are:
Some controversy followed the construction of the Line A. Using the model of the existing Métro
, and unlike any other underground network in the world, engineers elected to build the three new deep stations (Étoile
, Auber
and Nation
) as single monolithic halls with lateral platforms and no supporting pillars. A hybrid solution of adjacent halls was rejected on the grounds that it "completely sacrificed the architectural aspect" of the oeuvre. The scale in question was vast: the new stations cathédrales were up to three times longer, wider and taller than Métro stations, and hence 20 or 30 times more voluminous. Most importantly, unlike the Métro they were to be constructed entirely underground. The decision turned out to be expensive - around FFr 8 billion for the three stations, equivalent to € 1.2 billion in 2005 terms, with the two-level Auber
the costliest of the three. The comparison was obvious and unfavourable with London's Victoria Line
, a deep line of 22 km constructed during the same period using a two-tunnel approach at vastly lower cost. However, the three stations represent undeniable engineering feats and are noticeably less claustrophobic than traditional underground stations.
Only two stations were inaugurated to complete Lines B
, C
and D
:
Two stations were added to the network as part of Line E
in the 1990s. They are notable for their lavishly spacious deep construction, a technique not used since Auber
. Although similar to the three 1960s "cathedral stations" of Line A, their passenger traffic has so far proved vastly lower.
, even "diagonal" trips are rapid). As a result, the network has been an extraordinary popular success since its opening.
Lines A
and B
reached saturation relatively quickly, exceeding by far all traffic expectations: up to 55,000 passengers per hour in each direction on Line A, the highest such figure in the world outside of East Asia. Despite a frequency of more than one train every two minutes, made possible by the installation of digital signalling in 1989, and the partial introduction of double-decker trains since 1998, the central stations of Line A are critically crowded at peak times. Since both Métro and surface transport are equally congested at these times (and significantly slower), the RER's value to the economy of Île de France
cannot be doubted
Used for leisure journeys, the RER represents no less of a revolution. By bringing far-flung suburbs within easy reach of central Paris, the network has significantly aided the reintegration of the traditionally insular capital with its periphery. The evidence of this social impact can be seen at Châtelet - Les Halles
, whose neighbourhood is now crowded with suburbanites on evenings and weekends.
, serving only one side of Paris, unlike all other RER lines. Various Line E extensions have been proposed:
A new Line E station has been proposed at Rue de l'Évangile on the approach to Gare de l'Est, with a tentative opening date of 2014.
Older plans existed for a line F, which would connect Argenteuil
to Rambouillet
via existing tracks of the Saint-Lazare and Montparnasse rail networks. A new tunnel would be bored below Paris, with the creation of a station at Invalides. The cost of the new tunnel and the fact that Saint-Lazare and Montparnasse networks form a loop make this project unlikely to happen.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
serving Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and its suburbs. The RER is an integration of a modern city-centre underground rail and a pre-existing set of commuter rail lines. It has several connections with the Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
within the city of Paris. Within the city, the RER functions like the Métro, but as it has fewer stops, the system acts as one of express train
Express train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
s. Since 1999 the network has consisted of five lines: A
RER A
The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...
, B
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
, C
RER C
The RER C is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. It is operated by SNCF.The line runs from the northwestern terminuses Pontoise , Versailles – Rive Gauche and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to the southeastern terminuses Massy-Palaiseau , Dourdan-la-Forêt , ...
, D
RER D
The RER D is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line officially runs from the northern terminus Orry-la-Ville – Coye to the southern terminuses Melun and Malesherbes...
and E
RER E
The RER E is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. The line runs from the western terminus Haussmann St-Lazare to the eastern terminuses Chelles-Gournay and Tournan...
. The RER is still expanding; Line E, which opened in 1999, is planned for westward extension by 2020.
Characteristics
The RER contains 246 stations, 33 of which are within the city of Paris and runs over 587 km (364.7 mi) of track, including 76.5 km (47.5 mi) underground. Each line passes through the city almost exclusively underground and on dedicated tracks. The RER is operated partly by RATP, the transport authority that operates Paris MétroParis Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
, and partly by SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
, the national rail operator. In spite of this, the system uses a single fare structure and no transfer is needed between parts run by the two operators. Total traffic on the central sections of lines A and B, operated by RATP, was 452 million in 2006; in the same year, total traffic on all lines operated by SNCF (both RER and Transilien
Transilien
The Transilien is the brand name for suburban railway services of the SNCF-owned railway network operating within the Île-de-France région...
trains) was 657 million.
RATP manages 65 RER stations, including all stations on Line A east of Nanterre-Préfecture and those on the branch terminating at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
. It also operates stations on Line B South of Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
. Other stations on the two lines and those on lines C, D and E are operated by SNCF. Of the RER stations operated by RATP, 9 have interchanges with Métro lines, and 9 allow transfer to SNCF's Transilien service.
Origins
The origins of the RER can be traced back to the 1936 Ruhlmann-Langewin plan of the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de ParisCompagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris
The Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris , or CMP, was the forerunner of the RATP, the company managing the Parisian subway.- Origin :...
(Metropolitan Railway Company of Paris) for a "métropolitain express" (express metro
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
). The company's post-war successor, RATP, revived the scheme in the 1950s, and in 1960 an interministerial committee decided to go ahead with the construction of an east-west line. Subsequently, the central part of the RER was completed in a large-scale civil engineering project between 1962 and 1977. As its instigator, RATP was granted authority to run the new link. The embryonic (and as yet unnamed) RER was not properly conceived until the 1965 Schéma directeur d'aménagement et d'urbanisme, which designed an H-shaped network with two north-south routes. Only a single north-south link crossing the Left Bank has so far come to fruition, although Paris Métro's Line 13 has been extended to perform a similar function. Between 1969 and 1970, RATP purchased the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines from SNCF.
First phase
In the first phase of construction, the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines became the ends of the east-west Line ARER A
The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...
, the central section of which was opened station by station between 1969 and 1977. On its completion, Line A was joined by the initial southern section of the north-south Line B
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
. During this first phase, six new stations were built, three of which are entirely underground.
Construction was inaugurated by Robert Buron
Robert Buron
Robert Buron was a French politician and Minister of Finance from 20 January 1955 to 23 February 1955 and Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Tourism during Charles de Gaulle's third term from 9 June 1958 to 8 January 1959.Buron was born in Paris, where he also died. He was kidnapped during...
, then-Minister for Public Works, at the Pont de Neuilly
Pont de Neuilly
Le pont de Neuilly is a road and rail bridge carrying Route nationale 13 and Paris Métro Line 1 which crosses the River Seine between the right bank of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Courbevoie and Puteaux on the left bank in the French department of Hauts-de-Seine...
on 6 July 1961, four years before the publication of the official network blueprint. The rapid expansion of the La Défense
La Défense
La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...
business district in the west made the western section of the first line a priority. Nation
Nation (Paris Metro and RER)
Nation is a station of the Paris Métro and of Île-de-France's regional high-speed RER. It serves lines 1, 2, 6 and 9 of the Paris Métro and line A of the RER....
, the first new station, was opened on 12 December 1969 and temporarily became the new western terminus of the Vincennes line. The section from Étoile
Charles de Gaulle - Étoile (Paris Metro and RER)
Charles de Gaulle – Étoile is a station on Paris Métro Line 1 and of the RER urban rail network. It lies on the boundary of the VIIIe and XVIIe arrondissements of Paris...
(not yet renamed after Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
) to La Défense was opened a few weeks later. It subsequently extended eastward to the newly-built Auber
Auber (Paris RER)
Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
station on 23 November 1971, and westward to Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Gare de Saint Germain-en-Laye
Saint Germain-en-Laye is the main railway station serving Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. The station opened on 14 August 1847 with the opening of the ligne de Saint Germain , an atmospheric railway. Twelve years later, conventional locomotives replaced the atmospheric powered engines...
on 1 October 1972. The latter was achieved through a connection to the existing Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, the oldest railway line into Paris, at Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....
.
The RER network came into being on 9 December 1977 with the joining of the eastern Nation
Nation (Paris Metro and RER)
Nation is a station of the Paris Métro and of Île-de-France's regional high-speed RER. It serves lines 1, 2, 6 and 9 of the Paris Métro and line A of the RER....
-Boissy
Boissy-Saint-Léger (Paris RER)
Boissy-Saint-Léger is a railway station serving Boissy-Saint-Léger, an eastern suburb of Paris, France. It is one of the terminuses of the RER A trains....
segment and the western Auber
Auber (Paris RER)
Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
-Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Gare de Saint Germain-en-Laye
Saint Germain-en-Laye is the main railway station serving Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. The station opened on 14 August 1847 with the opening of the ligne de Saint Germain , an atmospheric railway. Twelve years later, conventional locomotives replaced the atmospheric powered engines...
segment at Châtelet – Les Halles
Châtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)
Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
. The southern Ligne de Sceaux
Ligne de Sceaux
thumb|Old ligne de Sceaux, between [[Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse]] and [[Boullay-les-Troux]]"La Ligne de Sceaux" was a railway line in France running from Paris to some of its southern suburbs, including Sceaux from which it takes its name...
was simultaneously extended from Luxembourg
Luxembourg (Paris RER)
Luxembourg is an RER station in Paris, France. It is situated on the border of 5th and 6th arrondissement of Paris.The terminus of the Ligne de Sceaux was opened on the same site in 1895...
to meet Line A at Châtelet – Les Halles, becoming the new Line B. The system of line letters was introduced to the public on this occasion, though it had been used internally at RATP and SNCF for some time.
Completion
A second phase, from the end of the 1970s, was carried out more slowly. SNCF gained the authorisation to operate its own routes, which became lines C, D and E. Extensive sections of suburban tracks were added to the network, but only four new stations were built. In this time period, the network was completed in the following stages:- Line CRER CThe RER C is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. It is operated by SNCF.The line runs from the northwestern terminuses Pontoise , Versailles – Rive Gauche and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to the southeastern terminuses Massy-Palaiseau , Dourdan-la-Forêt , ...
(along the Left Bank of the Seine) was added in 1979, involving the construction of a link between Invalides and Musée d'OrsayMusée d'Orsay (Paris RER)Musée d'Orsay is a station in line C of the Paris Region's Réseau express régional rapid transit system, named after the Musée d'Orsay. It is situated in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.-Adjacent stations:...
.
- Line B was extended to Gare du Nord in 1981 with a new deep tunnel from Châtelet – Les HallesChâtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
. It was subsequently extended further northward.
- Line DRER DThe RER D is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line officially runs from the northern terminus Orry-la-Ville – Coye to the southern terminuses Melun and Malesherbes...
(north to south-east via Châtelet – Les Halles) was completed in 1995 with the construction of a deep tunnel between Châtelet – Les Halles and Gare de LyonGare de LyonParis Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...
. No new building work was necessary at Châtelet – Les Halles, as additional platforms for Line D had been built at the time of the station's construction 20 years earlier.
- Line ERER EThe RER E is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. The line runs from the western terminus Haussmann St-Lazare to the eastern terminuses Chelles-Gournay and Tournan...
was added in 1999, connecting the north-east with Gare Saint-LazareGare Saint-LazareParis Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
by means of a new deep tunnel from Gare de l'EstGare de l'Estis one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
.
Finance
The RER's first phase of construction during the 1960s and 1970s was marked by scale and expense. In 1973 alone, FRFFrench franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
2 billion were committed to the project in the budget. This equates to roughly € 1.37 billion in 2005 terms, and closer to double that as a proportion of the region's (then much smaller) economic output. This and subsequent spending was partly sustained by the versement transport
Versement transport
In France, the versement transport is a hypothecated local tax levied on the total gross salaries of all employees of companies of more than nine employees, originally intended to raise capital for investment in local public transport infrastructure, but more and more used to cover its operating...
, a local tax levied on businesses. The tax was introduced in July 1971 and remains in effect.
Maps
Trains
Alsace-Moselle
The territory of the former Alsace-Lorraine, commonly known as Alsace-Moselle, is a region in the eastern part of France, bordering with Germany. Its principal cities are Metz and Strassburg. Alsace-Moselle was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, and again from 1940 until its liberation by...
), contrary to the Métro where trains run on the right. RER trains run by the two different operators share the same track infrastructure, a practice called interconnection. On the RER, interconnection required the development of specific trains (MI 79 series for Materiel d'Interconnexion 1979, and MI 2N
MI 2N
MI 2N is a type of electric multiple unit running on the French RER rail network, built by GEC Alstom and ANF for SNCF and RATP....
series for Materiel d'Interconnexion à 2 niveaux (double-deck interconnection stock)) capable of operating under both 1.5 kV direct current on the RATP network and 25 kV / 50 Hz alternating current on the SNCF network. The MS 61 series (Matériel Suburbain 1961) can be used only on the 1.5 kV DC network.
The RER's tunnels have unusually large cross-sections. This is due to a 1961 decision to build according to a standard set by the Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, with space for overhead catenary
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
power supply to trains. Single-track tunnels measure 6.30 m across and double-track tunnels up to 8.70 m, meaning a cross-sectional area of up to 50 square metres, larger than that of the stations on many comparable underground rail networks.
Stations
Ten new stations have been built under the heart of Paris since the 1960s as part of the RER project. The six stations of Line ARER A
The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...
opened between 1969 and 1977 are:
- NationNation (Paris Metro and RER)Nation is a station of the Paris Métro and of Île-de-France's regional high-speed RER. It serves lines 1, 2, 6 and 9 of the Paris Métro and line A of the RER....
(1969): deep construction at the Place de la Nation - Charles de Gaulle - ÉtoileCharles de Gaulle - Étoile (Paris Metro and RER)Charles de Gaulle – Étoile is a station on Paris Métro Line 1 and of the RER urban rail network. It lies on the boundary of the VIIIe and XVIIe arrondissements of Paris...
(1970): deep construction at the Arc de TriompheArc de Triomphe-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire... - La Défense (1970): near-surface construction beneath the site of the yet-to-be-built Grande Arche de la DéfenseGrande ArcheLa Grande Arche de la Défense is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west of Paris, France...
, just outside the Paris city boundary - AuberAuber (Paris RER)Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
(1971): deep construction near Gare Saint-LazareGare Saint-LazareParis Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
; once the largest underground station in the world - Châtelet - Les HallesChâtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
(1977): near-surface construction on the site of the former marketplace, today perhaps the largest underground station in the world - Gare de LyonGare de LyonParis Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...
(1977): near-surface construction beneath and alongside the main-line SNCF station
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
, and unlike any other underground network in the world, engineers elected to build the three new deep stations (Étoile
Charles de Gaulle - Étoile (Paris Metro and RER)
Charles de Gaulle – Étoile is a station on Paris Métro Line 1 and of the RER urban rail network. It lies on the boundary of the VIIIe and XVIIe arrondissements of Paris...
, Auber
Auber (Paris RER)
Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
and Nation
Nation (Paris Metro and RER)
Nation is a station of the Paris Métro and of Île-de-France's regional high-speed RER. It serves lines 1, 2, 6 and 9 of the Paris Métro and line A of the RER....
) as single monolithic halls with lateral platforms and no supporting pillars. A hybrid solution of adjacent halls was rejected on the grounds that it "completely sacrificed the architectural aspect" of the oeuvre. The scale in question was vast: the new stations cathédrales were up to three times longer, wider and taller than Métro stations, and hence 20 or 30 times more voluminous. Most importantly, unlike the Métro they were to be constructed entirely underground. The decision turned out to be expensive - around FFr 8 billion for the three stations, equivalent to € 1.2 billion in 2005 terms, with the two-level Auber
Auber (Paris RER)
Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
the costliest of the three. The comparison was obvious and unfavourable with London's Victoria Line
Victoria Line
The Victoria line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the south to the north-east of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map...
, a deep line of 22 km constructed during the same period using a two-tunnel approach at vastly lower cost. However, the three stations represent undeniable engineering feats and are noticeably less claustrophobic than traditional underground stations.
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
, C
RER C
The RER C is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. It is operated by SNCF.The line runs from the northwestern terminuses Pontoise , Versailles – Rive Gauche and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to the southeastern terminuses Massy-Palaiseau , Dourdan-la-Forêt , ...
and D
RER D
The RER D is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line officially runs from the northern terminus Orry-la-Ville – Coye to the southern terminuses Melun and Malesherbes...
:
- Gare du NordGare du NordParis Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
(1982): near-surface construction on two levels
- St-Michel - Notre-DameSt-Michel - Notre-Dame (Paris RER)Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame is a station of the Paris RER, serving Line B and Line C. It is named after the nearby St-Michel area and Notre Dame cathedral.The main entrance to the station is in Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the Seine...
(1988): deep construction on an existing stretch of the Line B between LuxembourgLuxembourg (Paris RER)Luxembourg is an RER station in Paris, France. It is situated on the border of 5th and 6th arrondissement of Paris.The terminus of the Ligne de Sceaux was opened on the same site in 1895...
and Châtelet - Les HallesChâtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
with two tunnels, common in all other deep underground systems but unique in Paris. The station was actually built when the LuxembourgLuxembourg (Paris RER)Luxembourg is an RER station in Paris, France. It is situated on the border of 5th and 6th arrondissement of Paris.The terminus of the Ligne de Sceaux was opened on the same site in 1895...
_Châtelet tunnel was dug as an enlargement of the tunnel itself. As this station is under the SeineSeineThe Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
river, it has a very narrow platform much like London UndergroundLondon UndergroundThe London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
stations, and does not sport the usual architectural expanse of other stations.
Two stations were added to the network as part of Line E
RER E
The RER E is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France. The line runs from the western terminus Haussmann St-Lazare to the eastern terminuses Chelles-Gournay and Tournan...
in the 1990s. They are notable for their lavishly spacious deep construction, a technique not used since Auber
Auber (Paris RER)
Auber is a station on Line A of the RER in Paris, France. Opened on 23 November 1971 it was at the time the largest underground station in the world, and represents a feat of underground engineering....
. Although similar to the three 1960s "cathedral stations" of Line A, their passenger traffic has so far proved vastly lower.
- MagentaMagenta (Paris RER)Magenta is a station of the Île-de-France réseau express régional, located in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. Built on the site of the Gare du Nord, the original name of Magenta station was Nord-Est with the possibility of a connection to both the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est.-Station...
(1999): deep construction serving both Gare du Nord and Gare de l'EstGare de l'Estis one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
- Haussmann - Saint-LazareHaussmann - Saint-Lazare (Paris RER)Haussmann — Saint-Lazare is a station on the RER in Paris. Opened on 12 July 1999 as the terminus of the new Line E, it is situated beneath Boulevard Haussmann and directly connected to Gare Saint-Lazare, Auber RER, and two metro stations.-Engineering:...
(1999): deep construction serving Gare Saint-LazareGare Saint-LazareParis Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
and Auber
Usage
The social and economic impact of the RER is difficult to overstate. Journey times, particularly on east-west and north-south routes, have been cut spectacularly (and thanks to the cross-platform connection at Châtelet - Les HallesChâtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)
Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
, even "diagonal" trips are rapid). As a result, the network has been an extraordinary popular success since its opening.
Lines A
RER A
The RER A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the western terminuses Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Cergy Le Haut , and Poissy to the eastern terminuses Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy .* First inauguration: 12 December 1969*...
and B
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
reached saturation relatively quickly, exceeding by far all traffic expectations: up to 55,000 passengers per hour in each direction on Line A, the highest such figure in the world outside of East Asia. Despite a frequency of more than one train every two minutes, made possible by the installation of digital signalling in 1989, and the partial introduction of double-decker trains since 1998, the central stations of Line A are critically crowded at peak times. Since both Métro and surface transport are equally congested at these times (and significantly slower), the RER's value to the economy of Île de France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
cannot be doubted
Used for leisure journeys, the RER represents no less of a revolution. By bringing far-flung suburbs within easy reach of central Paris, the network has significantly aided the reintegration of the traditionally insular capital with its periphery. The evidence of this social impact can be seen at Châtelet - Les Halles
Châtelet - Les Halles (Paris RER)
Châtelet – Les Halles is a major commuter train hub in Paris. Taken together with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, to which it is directly connected, hosts travellers per week day , for the RER only...
, whose neighbourhood is now crowded with suburbanites on evenings and weekends.
Future developments
Extensions to the RER focus on Line E, which ends at Haussmann - Saint-LazareHaussmann - Saint-Lazare (Paris RER)
Haussmann — Saint-Lazare is a station on the RER in Paris. Opened on 12 July 1999 as the terminus of the new Line E, it is situated beneath Boulevard Haussmann and directly connected to Gare Saint-Lazare, Auber RER, and two metro stations.-Engineering:...
, serving only one side of Paris, unlike all other RER lines. Various Line E extensions have been proposed:
- eastwards from Chelles-Gournay to Esbly and Meaux
- eastwards from Tournan to Coulommiers
- westwards from Haussmann - St Lazare to Mantes-la-JolieMantes-la-JolieMantes-la-Jolie is a commune based in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center. Mantes-la-Jolie is a sub-prefecture department.-History:...
.
A new Line E station has been proposed at Rue de l'Évangile on the approach to Gare de l'Est, with a tentative opening date of 2014.
Older plans existed for a line F, which would connect Argenteuil
Argenteuil
Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil....
to Rambouillet
Rambouillet
Rambouillet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.It is located in the suburbs of Paris southwest from the center...
via existing tracks of the Saint-Lazare and Montparnasse rail networks. A new tunnel would be bored below Paris, with the creation of a station at Invalides. The cost of the new tunnel and the fact that Saint-Lazare and Montparnasse networks form a loop make this project unlikely to happen.
See also
- List of metro systems
- List of stations of the Paris RER
- List of stations of the Paris Métro
- Réseau Express de l'Aire métropolitaine lyonnaiseRéseau Express de l'Aire métropolitaine lyonnaiseRéseau Express de lAire métropolitaine Lyonnaise is a project that consists in improving and unifying some railways lines in the Lyon metropolitan area...
- Transportation in France
- Tangentielle NordTangentielle NordThe Tangentielle Nord is a planned suburban railway line in France.-Route:The route is planned to be 28 km long, from Sartrouville to Noisy-le-Sec, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It will have interchanges with existing SNCF Transilien trains, trams, metro, and RER lines A, B, C, and D...
External links
- RATP (official, in )
- RATP (official, in )
- Interactive Map of the RER (from RATP's website)
- Interactive Map of the Paris métro (from RATP's website)
- Complete track map of the RER system by Franklin Jarrier,
- Metro-Pole (unofficial, dedicated to Paris public transport)
- BBC News OnlineBBC News OnlineBBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
- France's answer to Crossrail
