On Sunday evening, Andrews Parsons spoke directly to the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, who had revealed at the end of August her ambition to make the thirteen historic lines of the Paris metro accessible.
The closing curtain falls on the Paris 2024 Games. The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games, held this Sunday at the Stade de France, was an opportunity to call for the continuation of the momentum of the Games, in terms of accessibility of transport and infrastructure, in particular. “We all have a collective responsibility to use the momentum of the Paralympic Games to make this world more inclusive”declared the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Andrew Parsons. “We need to enable people with disabilities to excel off the playing field”.
The Brazilian leader focused on the Paris metro, which is regularly singled out for its age and lack of accessibility. “The best Paralympic legacies are those that continue after the Games and I call on everyone involved to make the dream of an accessible Paris metro a dazzling reality.” In doing so, he directly addressed Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region and of IDF Mobilité, the main financier of transport in the Île-de-France region. “Thanks to the president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse for her ambition to make the metro accessible,” he said.
Also readCongested basement, narrow tunnels, colossal cost… Why making the Paris metro accessible to all is an absolute headache
“The biggest challenge for transport” in the Paris region
On August 26, when unveiling the transport plan for the Paralympic Games, Valérie Pécresse called for launching a vast project, estimated at between 15 and 20 billion euros, in order to make the “thirteen historical lines” of the Paris metro. The elected official had called on the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and the State to share the bill fairly. “I am ready to complete this financing plan by making three equal parts, one part for the region, one part for the State, and one part for the city of Paris.”she assured. During the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games, the president of the region once again spoke of the “metro for all” as “the region’s biggest transport challenge in the coming decades.”
The discussions seem to be on track. On September 5, the Île-de-France region, the city of Paris and the APF-France Handicap association signed a pact for a metro accessible to people with reduced mobility. On this occasion, Valérie Pécresse stated that she wanted to form a working group with the State, the region, IDFM, the city of Paris and neighboring municipalities as well as the RATP. She also estimated that the region could finance the project without increasing regional taxes. However, all stakeholders stressed that technical obstacles would prevent all stations from being fully accessible. While the signing of the pact is not binding for its signatories, it marks a first step in this titanic project.
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