Disruptions are expected for a few more months on line 14 of the Paris metro. Extended just in time for the Olympic Games, it will in fact undergo more or less partial closures until next August, the RATP announced on Monday.
Inaugurated on June 24, exactly one month before the first rugby sevens match of the Paris 2024 Games, organized on July 24 at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, the extension of the line made it possible to transport 800,000 people per day, all travelers combined, during the competition.
A new piloting system
“We transported a little more than 10,000 people per session organized at the Stade de France during the Olympics, so around 20% of the volume of spectators”, thus helping to relieve congestion on the other lines, welcomed the director of the 14, Emmanuel Sologny. Since then, and despite evening closures from 10 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and certain weekends, attendance has not decreased, meeting the RATP's objectives.
The extension of this fully automatic line was accompanied by a change in the metro control system, forcing the RATP to set up a partial service a little over a year ago to carry out the necessary tests. The migration took place in February, after two weeks of total interruption of the line, but additional functions must be installed, requiring partial service to be maintained until August.
From January, closings from 10 p.m. will only take place three evenings per week instead of four, Monday to Wednesday inclusive. The closure will only concern the entire line one evening, while it will remain open the other two on the southern part, between Maison-Blanche and Orly airport. Until June, the line will also be completely closed one weekend day per month on average.
Complete closure from August 4 to 8
Finally, five days of complete closure from August 4 to 8 should allow the software to be put into service with its latest features, for better management of hazards. It will thus be possible for the metros to reverse to disembark passengers at the station in the event of an incident, instead of remaining stuck in the tunnel.
RATP recalled that the delivery of the extension of line 14, which doubled in size (28 km) with eight additional stations, had been brought forward by two years to fit in with the Olympic schedule. This required us to work extra hard to meet deadlines, with a significant closure schedule.
