Paris Métro Line 1

Métro Line 1
An MP 05 stock train near Pont de Neuilly
Network	Paris Métro
Year opened	1900
Terminus	La Défense Château de Vincennes
Operator	RATP
Conduction system	Conductor/Automated (SAET)
Rolling stock	MP 89CC (30 trains as of May 5, 2012) MP 05 (24 trains as of May 5, 2012)
Number of stations	25
Length	16.6 kilometres (10.3 mi)
Communes serviced	6 (Paris, Puteaux, Neuilly-Sur-Seine, Courbevoie, Saint-Mandé, Vincennes)
Passengers (avg. per year)	207,000,000 (2010) 1st/16 (2010)
Connections

Paris Métro Line 1

Route map La Défense – La Folie under construction La Défense – Grande Arche Esplanade de la Défense La Seine Pont de Neuilly Les Sablons Porte Maillot Maillot shops Argentine Charles de Gaulle – Étoile George V Franklin D. Roosevelt Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau Concorde Tuileries Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Louvre – Rivoli Châtelet​ Hôtel de Ville Saint-Paul BastilleBassin de l'Arsenal Gare de Lyon Reuilly – Diderot Nation Porte de Vincennes Saint-Mandé Bérault Château de Vincennes Fontenay – Rigollots under construction Fontenay shops Val de Fontenay under construction

Paris Métro Line 1 is one of the sixteen lines composing the Paris Métro (in Paris, France). It connects the La Défense – Grande Arche and Château de Vincennes stations. With a 16.5 km length, it constitutes an "East-West" route transportation important for the City of Paris. Excluding RER (French: Réseau Express Régional) lines, it is the most utilised subway line on the network with 213 million travellers in 2008^[1] and 725,000 people per day on average.^[2]

Line 1, as indicated by its name, was the first one to open, its first section opened in 1900. It is also the first line on the network to be converted from a manually driven operation to a fully automated operation. Construction, which commenced in 2007 and was completed in 2011, included new rolling stock, the MP 05, and laying of platform edge doors in all stations. The first eight MP 05 trains (#s 501 through 508) went into passenger service on November 3, 2011 [1][2], allowing the accelerated transfer of the existing MP 89CC stock to line 4. The conversion allowed Line 1 to operate as the system's second fully automated line, behind Line 14.

History

Train at Bastille station in 1908

In November 1898, Paris decided to undertake preliminary work of the metro network with the construction of the first line of the Parisian subway system. Work lasted twenty months under the leadership of engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe and was financed by the municipality of Paris. The line was divided into eight parts distributed between several companies. On 19 July 1900, the line was opened between Porte Maillot and Porte de Vincennes to connect the various sites of the World Fair. Only eight stations were finalized and opened with the inauguration; ten more were gradually opened between 6 August and 1 September 1900. The line followed the east-west monument axis in Paris. These eighteen stations were entirely built under the control of engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe, the majority of them 75 metres long and 4.10 metres wide. In March 1934, the first extension into the suburbs brought service to Château of Vincennes towards the east.

Chronology

• 19 July 1900: Inauguration of line 1 between Porte de Vincennes and Porte Maillot. Only 8 of the 18 planned stations were opened.
• 6 August and 1 September 1900: The other 10 stations of the line opened.
• 24 March 1934: The line was extended to the east from Porte de Vincennes to the castle of Vincennes.
• 15 November 1936: Porte Maillot station was rebuilt in order to allow a further extension of the line to the west.
• 29 April 1937: The line was extended to the west from Porte Maillot to Pont de Neuilly.
• 1963: The rails were converted in order to accommodate rubber-tyred trains. At the same time, stations were enlarged in order to accommodate 6-car trains instead of 5-car trains.
• 1 April 1992: The line was extended again to the west from Pont de Neuilly to La Défense business district.
• 2007: Automation project commenced.
• 3 November 2011: Cascading of MP 89CC to MP 05 stock began, as the automation project was completed.

Rolling Stock

Line 1 has had five different types of rolling stock throughout the years (from fr:Ligne 1 du métro de Paris#Matériel roulant).

• M1 (Westinghouse): 1900-1921
• Sprague-Thomson: 1913-1964
• MP 59: 1963-1998
• MP 89CC: 1995-2013 (currently being transferred to Line 4)
• MP 05: 2011–Present

Automation

With the success of Line 14, the RATP began to explore the possibility of automating existing lines on the system. The agency first focused on Line 1, since it is the busiest of all of the Paris subway lines, and also the line most frequented by tourists. Automation would not only allow for Paris to remain as a model for technological innovations in the railway industry but also would permit an increase in the number of lines in normal service when RATP workers are striking (from MP 05).

Work began in 2007 and was largely carried out without interrupting passenger traffic. Preliminary work involved electrical and signaling upgrades throughout the entire line. Work also commenced on converting the original Porte Maillot station (also known as "Espace Maillot") into a light maintenance facility for the MP 05 rolling stock. In 2009, work commenced on installing platform screen doors; with Bérault and Porte Maillot being the first stations to be equipped. Due to its curved platform, Bastille (in 2011) was among the last stations to be equipped. During this time, stations were intermittently closed to allow platforms to be leveled with the height of the train floors (from fr:Ligne 1 du métro de Paris).

Although most of the stations remain the same as they were prior to automation (with the exception of the platform screen doors), many stations like St. Paul, received brand new signage. Franklin D. Roosevelt received a complete overhaul from its post World War II facade to a more contemporary & modern look.

Finally, in November 3, 2011, the MP 05 rolling stock is put into service on Line 1. The automated trains will run alongside the existing MP 89CC stock until enough automatic rolling stock is available, thanks to the SAET (French: Système d'automatisation de l'exploitation des trains) system, which is the first version of Siemens Transportation Systems' Trainguard MT CBTC.

Future

A western extension of Line 1 from La Défense station to the center of Nanterre is being considered. An eastern extension to Rigollots and later to Val de Fontenay is also being investigated.

Map and stations

Map of Paris Métro Line 1.

Renamed stations

* The Louvre station renamings were made after the entrance to the museum was moved following construction of the Louvre Pyramid.

Tourism

Line 1 passes near several places of interest:

• La Défense Paris high-rise district which is dominated by the Grande Arche.
• The Arc de Triomphe at Charles de Gaulle-Étoile. A 289 step staircase is open to the public and leads to the top of the Arch. There is also a museum on the top floor.
• L'Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
• The Place de la Concorde dominated by the Obelisk, Tuileries garden and Louvre museum.
• The Louvre station has copies of works of art from the museum and has historical information. The station's benches are made of glass and the Western portal has Roman-inspired arches along the platform edge.
• The Hôtel de Ville (Paris City Hall) and the Marais district.
• Bastille and the nearby Opera.
• Gare de Lyon train station.
• The Place de la Nation.
• The Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes Wood) and Vincennes Zoo.
• The Château de Vincennes. A medieval castle to the east of Paris.

Gallery

• 

  Bastille station

• 

  Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau

• 

  Gare de Lyon

• 

  Hôtel de Ville

• 

  Nation

• 

  Pont de Neuilly

• 

  

  MP 89 at Pont de Neuilly

• 

  MP 05 at Chateau de Vincennes

See also

• List of stations of the Paris Métro
• List of stations of the Paris RER

References

External links

• (French) RATP official website
  • (English) RATP english speaking website
  • (English) Interactive Map of the RER (from RATP's website)
  • (English) Interactive Map of the Paris métro (from RATP's website)
• (French) Metro-Pole website, dedicated to Paris public transports (unofficial)

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