Grand Paris Express

The Grand Paris Express (French: [ɡʁɑ̃ paʁi ɛkspʁɛs]; GPE) is a project consisting of new rapid transit lines and the extension of existing lines being built in the Île-de-France region of France. The project comprises four new lines for the Paris Métro, plus extensions of the existing Lines 11 and 14. A total of 200 kilometres (120 mi) of new tracks and 68 new stations are to be added, serving a projected 2 million passengers a day.
The new lines were originally indexed by colour (Red Line, Pink Line, Green Line, Blue Line), but this was changed in 2013 to continue the numbering convention that the RATP uses. They are therefore now known as Line 15, Line 16, Line 17 and Line 18. The constructed lines are planned to open in stages, starting with the Line 14 extension in June 2024, until 2031.
Since August 2013, the New Grand Paris steering committee has met quarterly. The first public inquiry, focused on the southern section of Line 15 from Pont de Sèvres to Noisy–Champs, was held from October to mid-November 2013. Work on Line 15 began in 2015. Its first section between Pont de Sèvres Métro station and Noisy–Champs RER A station was scheduled at that time to open around 2020, but this has now been pushed back to late 2026. This line was first proposed in the Orbival project, then integrated into the Arc Express.
To ensure better commuter service to the inner northeastern suburbs, a six-station, 5.4-kilometre (3.4 mi) eastern extension of Line 11, not considered part of the Grand Paris Express project, opened from Mairie des Lilas to Rosny-sous-Bois. The scheme was initially lobbied for by the local authorities of these suburbs, and was adopted during the 2007 review of the Île-de-France Transportation Plan. Work on the extension to Rosny – Bois-Perrier started in 2015 and opened on 13 June 2024. It provides connections with the RER E and an eventual extension of Île-de-France tramway Line 1, which better links central Paris with the commuter hub of Châtelet–Les Halles.
A revised plan for the proposed Grand Paris Express subway system was unveiled on 6 March 2013, and calls for a second extension of Line 11 to be built towards Noisy–Champs, this second extension being considered part of the Grand Paris Express project. The target opening date is 2030, but might be pushed back. Should the second extension be built, Line 11 will eventually be fully automated. Automatic train operation was not implemented with the Rosny extension, although the RATP and STIF had considered the possibility of adding it later on.
Line 11 was the first metro line converted to rubber-tyred pneumatic operation, and its first set of rubber-tyred rolling stock was the MP 55, which operated from October 1956 through January 1999. They were then replaced by refurbished MP 59 stock from Line 4. The MP 55 stock consisted of 4 carriages, as did the replacement MP 59 stock. One MP 73 of line 6 was in service on the 11 as well.
Île-de-France Mobilités planned to replace the aging fleet of Line 11 with MP 14 series trains around the time of the opening of the extension to Rosny-sous-Bois. The new trains are driver-operated as the MP 59 fleet was, but they are 5 cars long and have open gangways. An initial 20 trains were ordered in February 2018, with an additional 19 trains ordered in July 2021. Production began in late 2020, and testing in summer 2021.
The first new MP 14 CC (manual transit) were deployed in June 2023, with four new trains entering service each Tuesday to replace four MP 59 transferred to the Rosny-sous-Bois workshop on Monday nights to be retired. Twenty new MP 14-manual transit were deployed by summer 2023, with an additional nineteen new trains deployed in spring 2024 to serve the extension to Rosny–Bois-Perrier. The ceremonial final runs of the MP 59 took place on 23 May 2024, with #'s 6069, 6073 and 6087 being the final three to be withdrawn.[1]
The automated Line 14 was extended north from Saint-Lazare to Mairie de Saint-Ouen, with the primary aim of reducing overcrowding on Line 13. The adopted solution connects both branches of Line 13 to Line 14, with stations at Porte de Clichy on the Asnières – Gennevilliers branch and Mairie de Saint-Ouen on the Saint-Denis branch. An additional station connects with the Saint-Ouen RER C station, and another with the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare lines at Pont Cardinet, and the final one with the RER D at Saint-Denis–Pleyel. Construction on the extension began in 2014, with an aim of completion by 2019. Completion was later pushed back to 2020 after flooding from the water table stopped the tunnel works for a year. The COVID-19 pandemic then further delayed the opening to December 2020. The extension opened on 24 June 2024, just a month before the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Line 14 was also extended south from Olympiades towards Orly Airport. The extension travels southeastward from Olympiades to Maison Blanche, interchanging with Line 7's Villejuif branch, and opened on 24 June 2024 (again, just a month before the 2024 Summer Olympics).
With both extensions complete, it is expected that Line 14 will eventually be merged into the proposed Grand Paris Express system.
In February 2012 the STIF announced that with the two extensions planned, the brand new MP 14 class of rolling stock would replace the MP89 CA and MP 05 stock on Line 14 starting from 2020. This new stock is in eight-car train formations, longer than previously employed anywhere on the Paris Métro but which the length of all Line 14 stations was planned for. The previous MP 89 CA and MP 05 stock was then reassigned to the newly automated line 4, alongside some 6-car MP 14s. They replaced its manually driven MP 89 CC rolling stock, which was refurbished before going to line 6 to replace the aging MP 73 rolling stock.
Line 15 will be a high-capacity underground rail line, providing a new ring line around Paris in the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne and Seine-Saint-Denis. It will enable direct journeys between the suburbs, bypassing central Paris. The configuration of the line is very similar to that of the Arc Express, proposed by the RATP in 2006. It was later included in the red line project of the Grand Paris public transportation network, introduced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009. In March 2013, the "New Grand Paris" project was announced by the Prime Minister at the time, Jean-Marc Ayrault. At this time, the line acquired its current line 15 naming.
Line 15 is planned to open in phases from 2026 through 2031. It will create a loop connecting Noisy–Champs to Champigny, passing through Champigny-sur-Marne, Créteil, Villejuif, La Défense, Saint-Denis and Rosny-sous-Bois.
On 22 February 2018, a new timeline is announced by Prime minister Édouard Philippe:
In 2013, the government led by Ayrault proposed this timeline for the line 15 project:
The proposed rolling stock for line 15 is a new automated design, using conventional steel wheel on steel rail technology and overhead electrification, with a width of 2.80 metres (9 ft 2 in). Alstom has been chosen to build these trains. The names of the trains are the Alstom Metropolis MR3V/MR6V (MR6V (6-car variant for line 15) and MR3V (3-car variant for lines 16 and 17)).
The specifications of the trains travelling line 15 and their operation are as follows:
Line 16 is planned to open in between 2027 and 2028.
Line 17 is planned to open in phases between 2027 and 2030.
The proposed rolling stock for lines 16 and 17 is a new automated design with a width of 2.80 metres (9 ft 2 in), using conventional steel wheel on steel rail technology and overhead electrification. The rolling stocks for the line is the Alstom Metropolis MR3V (3-car variant) [2]
Line 18 is planned to open in phases between 2026 and 2030.
The proposed rolling stock for line 18 is the MRV (Matériel Roulant Voyageurs), a new automated design with a width of 2.45 metres (8 ft 0 in), using conventional steel wheel on steel rail technology and third rail electrification. Alstom has been chosen to build these trains.
The Grand Paris Express development has received the Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 2023.