| Line 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year opened | 1913 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last extension | 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | MF 77
5 carriages |
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| Stations served | 37 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 22.1 km (13.7 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interstation | 614 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Journeys made | 92,041,135 (per annum) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paris Métro Line 8 is one of 16 metro lines in Paris, France. It connects the Balard stations in South-West, to Creteil - Prefecture in South-East, according to a parabolic route on the right bank of river Seine. It was the last line of the original 1898 plan for Paris Métro and it was initially meant to serve from Porte d'Auteuil to Opéra. This initial section opened in December 1913.
It was deeply modified during the 1930s as line 10 took over the Western section. The current route starts from Paris boundary on the West at the Balard station then the metro serves successively the South-West part of the city, the Grands Boulevards, the Bois de Vincennes, then in South-East the cities (communes) of Charenton-le-Pont, Maisons-Alfort and finally Creteil that the line reached in 1974 at the Creteil - Prefecture station following several extensions. It became the first underground line to connect the prefecture of one of the new departments of Ile-de-France.
It is the only Paris underground line to cross the Seine and its principal tributary: the Marne in the air via a bridge between Charenton - Ecoles and Ecole Veterinaire de Maisons-Alfort, as well as the Seine in underground between Concorde and Invalides. With 89 million of travellers in 2004, it is the eighth line of the network for its traffic.
Contents |
History
Chronology
- July 13, 1913: line 8 was opened between Beaugrenelle and Opéra.
- September 30, 1913: The line was extended from Beaugrenelle to Porte d'Auteuil.
- June 30, 1928: The line was extended northbound from Opéra to Richelieu-Drouot.
- May 5, 1931: The line was extended from Richelieu-Drouot to Porte de Charenton.
- July 27, 1937: The section between La Motte-Picquet and Porte d'Auteuil was transferred to line 10. Line 8 was extended from La Motte-Picquet to Balard.
- September 2, 1939: In common with many other stations, trains stopped serving Croix Saint-Martin and Champ de Mars because of the war. However, both stations were eventually permanently closed.
- October 5, 1942: The line was extended eastbound from Porte de Charenton to Charenton - Écoles.
- September 19, 1970: The line was extended from Charenton - Écoles to Maisons-Alfort - Stade.
- April 27, 1972: The line was extended from Maisons-Alfort - Stade to Maisons-Alfort - Les Juillottes.
- September 24, 1973: The line was extended from Maisons-Alfort - Les Julliottes to Créteil - l'Echat.
- September 9, 1974: The line was extended from Créteil - l'Echat to Créteil - Préfecture.
Birth of the line
Line 8 is the last line created by the concession of March 30, 1898. The déclaration d'utilité publique was approved on April 6, 1903. The project consisted of connecting Opéra with Porte d'Auteuil via Grenelle with a shuttle in the same way the other lines of the network. But following the idea to operate line 7 with a junction in the periphery of Paris, a branch towards the Porte de Sevres (today Balard) starting from the Grenelle station 1910, the trains are sent alternatively on the two branches.[1]
The works started with the realization of the underwater crossings of the Seine from April 1908, between the stations Concorde and Invalides at the level of Pont Mirabeau[2]. It was finished in January 1911 after a significant delay caused by the flood of the building site at the time of the historical great flood of Paris in 1910. The crossing of the river was routed via a curve two hundred and fifty meters away.
Originally metal "caissons" were to be sunk vertically, as had already been done at line 4; instead a tunnel was drilled following a single circular tube with the help of a shield, as the public authorities opposed to the initial method because of the risks to boating activity above. On the other hand, the crossing close to Pont Mirabeau was carried out using said vertical caissons. The Invalids-Javel section which does not raise particular difficulties had been completed in 1910. The Grenelle station was built as a double station, which allows to send the trains towards Auteuil and the junction saw Porte de Sevres on a level with single platform, and to receive the trains of the two branches in opposite direction around a central platform on another level.
Without waiting the completion of work close to the Pont Mirabeau, the line was opened to the public July 13, 1913 between the stations Beaugrenelle and Opéra; the extension with Porte d'Auteuil followed September 30. 1913. At that time, Invalides and Concorde stations were still unfinished and were finally opened December 24, 1913 and March 12, 1914 respectively. [3]. In 1914, the line includes fifteen stations between Porte d'Auteuil and Opéra[4].
First extensions
The project of extension of the line started with the deliberation of the 29th December 1922 which modified the consistency of the principal network. The aim was to transform line 8 into a parabolic axis which connects Auteuil to Porte de Charenton while passing by Opera, Place de la Republique, Place de la Bastille, Avenue Daumesnil in the 12th arrondissement and Porte de Picpus. As part of the framework of the extension, a common path with line 9 between the stations Richelieu - Drouot and République was envisaged in order to limit impact of this problematic section on traffic in the streets. Located right in the axis of former path of the Seine, the ground at this place is particularly soft and the initial plan of building two parallel tunnels caused a long controversy.
The Work started straight away and the first new section opened on the 30th June 1928 extending the line by 643 meters to station Richelieu - Drouot from Opéra. Considering the forecasted increase in the traffic considered, the Municipal council of Paris at meeting of the 21st March 1926 decided to increase to 105 meters the length of the new stations of lines 7,8 and 9 in order to be able in the long term to exploit stock trains of seven carriages. Lengthening of the old stations was envisaged later on, but this work will never be completed. The new station Richelieu - Drouot was first opening after this decision: it was thus the first of the network to be 105 meters long while the preceding stations was only 75 meters long, which created an operation issue after the opening of the remaining line, the length of the trains being always limited by the shortest stations.
The organization of the Paris Colonial Exposition of 1931 in Bois de Vincennes required the completion of line 8 for its opening. The extension of the line up to Porte de Charenton including the construction of seventeen new stations of 105 meters was then agreed on March 25, 1924[5]. Work was launched in 1928. The particular configuration of lines 8 and 9, located under the Grands Boulevards in unstable watery ground, drove the decision to implement the line extensions at the same time on two levels. The stations of line 8 are at the higher level, and are made up of two half-stations separated by a central supporting wall in order to ensure overall stability. The infrastructure works were completed in March 1931. The extension of 7.8 kilometers was opened to the public on 5th May 1931, the new end station being Porte de Charenton for the opening of the Paris Colonial Exposition of 1931. On this date, the line included thirty-three stations between Auteuil and Porte de Charenton.
Major Restructuring of the line
The line undergoes a modification in the South-Western part in the 1930s. The principle of circular lines is replaced by axes crossing Paris right through. Thus, line 8 loses its main aim to connect the parks Bois de Boulogne and of Bois de Vincennes but to connect the only branch towards Balard with Porte de Charenton. The project consists in modifying the station of La Motte-Picquet so that the trains leave directly towards Balard, although initially the trains were meant to move towards Auteuil or Balard.
These modifications involve consequences on several lines: line 8 has a new terminus with Balard and the old section of line 8 between La Motte-Picquet and Porte d'Auteuil is reassigned to line 10. However this line had as a terminus the station Invalides ; therefore, the section between Duroc and Invalides is transfered to old line 14 (now line 13). The section between La Motte-Picquet and Balard is open on July 27, 1937, at the same time as the new maintenance workshop of Javel. In 1937, the line includes thirty-and-one stations between Balard and Porte of Charenton.
Second wave of extensions in direction of Creteil
The extension to Charenton is declared of public utility on December 24, 1929. The Work starts in 1936 by an extension of 1,410 meters brought into service on October 5th, 1942. Two new stations were created, Liberté and Charenton - Écoles on the commune of Charenton. In 1942, the line includes thirty-three stations, but following the start of Second world war, the stations Champ de Mars and Saint Martin were closed since on September 2, 1939 and the line actually had only thirty one stations in operation.
After the war, there were no metro extensions except for line 13 to Carrefour Pleyel in 1952. But finally the investment programmes of 1965 and 1967 envisaged three extensions, one of which was that of line 8 as far as Maisons-Alfort, because of the saturation of the pont de Charenton due to the large-scale urbanization of the surrounding communes, which disrupted the service of suburban buses towards the terminus of the line in Charenton. The extension required the crossing of the Marne on a viaduct because of the topography of the sector, the station Charenton - Écoles being located at the edge of a cliff on the North of the Marne.
A concrete structure of 199 meters total range was built in the spring 1968. Designed with an aesthetic research to integrate into the landscape, it is carried by six supports, including one of the three piers of the structure in the course of the river. The two central spans are 55.5 meters long; the two side spans only 30 meters long. The structural steel is made of a continuous metal beam, supported by two vertical beams with heart full. These beams frame the low part of the trains, in order to reduce the noise emitted. The rail tracks are laid on track ballast for the same reason. In the north, the viaduct overhangs the A4 autoroute (motorway) and then goes underground after an access ramp of 100 meters. In the south, the line immediately goes underground by a 70 meter long access ramp. The viaduct has a continuous slope of 40 mm/m, which makes it possible for the line to go underground once it passes over the left bank of the Marne. In June 1969, the metal beams were put in place; the structure was completed in November of the same year.
This viaduct was the first to be built since the one of line 6 in 1909. The path is then planned in cut-and-cover up to the terminus with three tracks. The section of Charenton - Écoles to Maisons-Alfort - Stade was opened on September 19, 1970.
The extension to Créteil
Créteil was promoted to a prefecture following the creation of the department of Val-de-Marne, which resulted in an important demographic boom. A new extension is thus quickly put in building site, in several stages. The line reached Maisons-Alfort - Juilliottes on April 27, 1972, build as cut-an-cover. Then it goes into Creteil,also on cut-and-cover or in open-air, with a path located in the middle of fast road way on two kilometers. The station Creteil - L' Échat is open air with a central platform. It is open on September 24, 1973. The station of Creteil - Prefecture is open on September 10, 1974, being a terminus organized with three tracks and two platforms. In 1974, it is the first time the subway of Paris enable to connect Paris to the prefecture of a bordering department. The final configuration of the line increases its length to 22,057 kilometers and thirty-seven stations.
The length of the extension does not make it possible any more to maintain the single tariff principle: for the first time, a tariff by section is applied to the underground railway network of Paris starting from September 19th 1970 at the time of the opening of the prolongation to Maisons-Alfort - Stade. The stations are equipped with an automatic check at the exit with turnstile, travelers having to pay a supplement before this control. However, as of the November 1, 1982, this particular tariff was abandoned to return to the unique tariff.
Particular Events
Line 8 is also the spot of the first perfect crime in the history of the metro. This event is extensively discussed in the news.[6][7] On Sunday May 16, 1937 towards 18:30, passengers at Porte Dorée station discovered an elegant brunette young woman stabbed in a first class carriage where she was alone. Laetitia Toureaux was twenty-nine years old, of Italian origin and a widow of a Parisian craftsman. The inquiry carried out by police chief Badin quickly revealed that this woman had a tumultuous life, working under a false name in a detective agency, visiting frequently and discreetly the embassy of Italy, while looking after the cloakroom of a dance hall. La Cagoule is accused, but the war erupts two years later and the case is closed unsolved. This story inspired writer Pierre Siniac for his novel Le Crime du dernier métro, published in 2001.[8]
Path and Stations
Path
The overall length of line 8 is of 22,057 kilometers, including 2,8 kilometers in open-air in south-eastern suburbs. It is the second longest line after line 13, but it is the longest distance between two termini because it has no branch.
The line starts in 15th arrondissement of Paris at the level of porte de Sèvres. the back-station of the station Balard is located under the grounds of heliport of Paris, beyond the viaduct of Boulevard périphérique de Paris. This station is made up of three tracks with a central platform used for deparures and arrivals. The end of the line is supplemented by four parking tracks.
The line leaves in direction of Hotel des Invalides by following the avenue Félix-Faure, passes under the viaduct of Chemin_de_fer_de_Petite_Ceinture and arrives at the station Lourmel with three tracks with platforms on of which is used for the connection with the maintenance workshop of Javel.
It serves then the stations Boucicaut and Félix Faure always under the same avenue.
After this station, the line follows the rue du Commerce. Because of the narrowness of this street, the station Commerce has shifted platforms. Then, at the level of the intersection between rue du Commerce and avenue Emile-Zola, the tunnel of line 8 is located under line 10 in a common structured. As the line reaches the station La Motte-Picquet - Grenelle, track 1 of lines 8 (direction Creteil - Préfecture) and 10 (direction Austerlitz) serve the same central platform whereas track 2 (direction Balard) is located under way 2 of line 10 for historical reasons.
Subsequently, the line follows avenue de la Motte-Picquet, the tracks present a profile in slope of 40 ‰ which brings them to a level close to the surface of the ground. The old station Champ de Mars , which is located between La Motte-Picquet - Grenelle and École Militaire, is closed since September 2, 1939. A rather unusual (on the network) park track accessible “at a peak” is located between the stations La Motte-Picquet - Grenelle and Champ de Mars. On this section, there is also a connection mentioned further.
After the phantom station Champ de Mars, the line serves École Militaire and La Tour-Maubourg, it follows a curve on the right then on the left under the esplanade of the Invalides and starts a descent of 40 ‰ to pass under the park tracks, then under the main roads of line 13. It reaches the station Invalides that is located under the rue de Constantine. At the level of the rue Robert-Esnault-Pelterie the line starts its second descent of 40 ‰ after passing under the line C of the RER in order to cross the Seine by an underwater crossing, thanks to a metal tube drilled under the river. Then, the line goes up on Right Bank with a slope in curve of 35 ‰ and reaches the station Concorde[9].
The line runs under rue Royale and passes under the collector of urban waste water of Asnières, then above line 12, to reach Madeleine. Then, it spans over the line 14, passes the collector of urban waste water of Clichy and arrives at Opera. It skirts the Grands Boulevards and reaches the station Richelieu - Drouot. Starting from this station, lines 8 and 9 share a common infrastructure where line 8 is located above the line 9[9].
The lines will get to the same level when they reach station République. Before that, both lines serve successively Grands Boulevards, Bonne Nouvelle, Strasbourg - Saint-Denis and the phantom station Saint Martin. On the east side of station Republique, the tunnel widens and includes three then four tracks. These garages are used for the trains of line 8 as for those of line 9 which reach it by the connections located on the west side of this station[9].
The path continues under the Grands Boulevards to reach Bastille, after serving the stations Filles du Calvaire, Saint-Sebastien - Froissart and Chemin Vert. The line then passes under the collector of the Center, and, before arriving at Bastille, plunges under line 5 and under Canal Saint-Martin by a slope of 40 ‰. Then the line follows rue du Fauborg-Saint-Antoine and serves the stations Ledru-Rollin and Faidherbe - Chaligny. After this station, the path forms a curve to follow the rue de Reuilly in order to reach the station Reuilly - Diderot[9].
The line reaches Montgallet slope of 40 ‰, then, while before reaching the Bois de Vincennes, it serves successively the stations Daumesnil, Michel Bizot and Porte Dorée. It then takes a south-western direction in order to serve the station Porte of Charenton. After this station, the line changes again of orientation and moves towards south-east; it leaves Paris to cross the commune of Charenton following the street of Paris via the stations Liberté and Charenton — Écoles. This station has two tracks with platforms and two sidings because it was the terminus of the line for a long time[9].
The path continues in the open-air on 353 meters before it spans over autoroute A4 (motorway) and the Marne. The line borrows two metal structures coupled together, each one mode of four spans, long of 199 m and with a slope of 40,14 ‰. The lines goes underground again in order to pass through Maisons-Alfort following the avenue of the Général-Leclerc, serving the stations École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, Maisons-Alfort - Stade and Maisons-Alfort - Juilliottes. This station, which was used as terminus, has three tracks with platform and a garage track.[9]
The line has three tracks until the terminus. Before arriving at Créteil - L'Échat, it crosses the highway exchange RN19 (highway)/autoroute A86 (motorway) then continues in the open air. The tracks lies between the ways of the road CD 1 and serves the stations Créteil - Université and Créteil - Préfecture[9].
Within the framework of the future extension, the line will continue full south to arrive at the crossroads CD 1/CD 60. A new station will be created after this crossing. The line will continue to arrive behind Dominique-Duvauchelle stage at Créteil where a new workshop of maintenance will be located [10].
List of Stations
Line 8 consists of 37 stations, including 13 in transit to 12 other metro lines and two RER lines.
Stations renamed
- May 15, 1921: Wilhelm renamed Eglise d'Auteuil.
- January 12, 1932: Saint-Sébastien renamed Saint-Sébastien - Froissart.
- March 1, 1937: Commerce renamed Avenue Émile Zola.
- 1996: Maisons-Alfort - Ecole Vétérinaire renamed Ecole Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort.
- September 1998: Rue Montmartre renamed Grands Boulevards.
List of Stations with a theme or specificity
The Motte-Picquet - Grenelle present corridors of correspondence decorated with several blazons of the family of Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte. A fresco represents the toll barrier of the Cunette, one of the doors of Wall of the Farmers formerly located at this place.
Richelieu - Drouot has a war memorial dedicated to the agents of the metropolitan railway who died in service for France. It was carved out black marble by sculptor Carlo Sarrabezolles in 1931. The central sculpture is decorated with a caryatid who supports with its raised arms the surrounding stone twist. The statue separates into two parts the half-circle where the names of the agents of the subway who disappeared during First World War are registered. The base of the monument bears the names of the battle fields of the Great War. The word “Release” was added in the bottom right after Second world war, in order to mark the participation of the agents of the network in Résistance[11]
Bonne Nouvelle was redecorated on the topic of cinema for the celebrations of the centenary of the Métro. The way the name of the station is written is a reference to the famous Hollywood Sign (the monumental Hollywood letters on the hill of the district d' Hollywood, with Los Angeles).
Some stations still show signs of difficulties of construction or of integration in the urban space:
- Commerce is a station with quays shifted because of the narrowness of rue du Commerce;
- The platforms of La Motte-Picquet - Grenelle are not facing each other because of the original role of the station to serve at the same time the branch d' Auteuil and the branch of Balard. The platform in direction of Balard is located below, and slightly shifted, with respect to the platform in direction of Creteil;
- Champ de Mars and Saint-Martin are two phantom stations of the line: they were definitively closed the September 2, 1939;
- République is used as terminus at the time of certain missions because the length of the line;
- Porte de Charenton, which is an old terminus of the line, has four tracks with platforms, the configuration consists of two sidings framed by the two main roads;
- Charenton - Écoles, which it also is an old terminus, includes/understands two tracks with platform and two sidings;
- Maisons-Alfort - Les Juilliottes, in the same way that the two preceding stations, has three tracks with platform, the middle one being used for departures and the arrivals of certain missions for which the station is a terminus;
- Créteil - L'Échat and Créteil - Université are two-track stations framing a central platform.
Connections
Workshops
Operation
Service road
Rolling stock
Categories of Personnel
Tariffing and financing
Traffic
Extension towards South-East
Line 8 is being extended 1.3 km east from Créteil - Préfecture to Créteil - Parc des Sports, with opening scheduled for 2011.
Tourism
Metro line 8 passes near several places of interest in Paris:
- École militaire, the Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower (station École Militaire).
- Invalides, including the tomb of Napoléon Bonaparte (station Invalides).
- Place de la Concorde, dominated by the Obelisk and the Tuileries garden (station Concorde) .
- church of the Madeleine (station Madeleine).
- The Opera Garnier (station Opéra).
- The Grands Boulevards (between stations Madeleine et République)
- Place de la République (station République).
- The Bastille and the adjacent modern opera house, the Opéra Bastille (station Bastille) ;
- le Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration and the Aquarium of the Palais de la Porte Dorée (station Porte Dorée) ;
- The Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes Wood) and Vincennes Zoo (four stations between Porte Dorée and Charenton - Écoles).
Further east, the line reaches place of interest in Val-de-Marne:
- The museum of the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (school of veterinary medicine) (station École Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort ) ;
- The museum of Maisons-Alfort (station Maisons-Alfort — Les Juilliottes) ;
- The mall Créteil Soleil (station Créteil — Préfecture).
See also
References
- ^ Jean Tricoire, éd 1999 p. 238
- ^ Jean Tricoire, éd 1999 p. 239
- ^ Jean Tricoire, éd 1999 p. 240
- ^ Jean Robert, Notre métro, éd 1983 p. 95
- ^ Hybrid Modernities: Architecture and Representation at the 1931 Colonial Exposition, Paris by Patricia A. Morton, The MIT Press (April 1, 2003), ISBN 978-0262632713
- ^ The crime of the subway Carries-dorée, article of Liliane Riou published in Gavroche n° 149, January-March 2007, p. 26 to 35
- ^ L' Express - Le crime était vraiment parfait , article of Cecile Guéry of the 30.08.2004
- ^ Parutions.com Pierre Signac, Le Crime du dernier métro
- ^ a b c d e f g Jean Tricoire, 1999, p. 248.
- ^ Prolongement in Creteil Parc of the Sports
- ^ Le patrimoine de la RATP, p. 241.
- Tricoire, Jean (2005) (in French). Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes. De Bienvenüe à Météor (3rd ed.). La Vie du Rail. ISBN 9782915034325. OCLC 255386206.
- Robert, Jean (1983) (in French). Notre métro (2e édition ed.). OCLC 12237811.
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) Mobidf website, dedicated to the RER (unofficial)
- (French) Metro-Pole website, dedicated to Paris public transports (unofficial)
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