“Everyone stand up, let the party begin…” The Neg'Marrons song will perhaps one day be the official anthem of the Paris metro. Indeed, the year 2025 must be that of the arrival of the new MF19 trainsets on part of the network. A new train which is touted to be more comfortable and more efficient according to Île-de-France Mobilités, and which should equip all eight lines in the future (3, 3bis, 7, 7bis, 8, 10, 12 and 13).
If the MF19s are intended to “improve travel conditions for users”, it seems that the latter show less enthusiasm at the announcement of one detail: the new trains will offer fewer seats.
Nearly 40% fewer seats
Because yes, two configurations of these trains are planned for deployment. A first called “Comfort” which should offer 36 seats (24 fixed and 12 folding seats) and which will equip lines 3, 3bis, 7bis, 10 and 12 and which poses fewer problems for users. But also another, “capacity” which will only have 20 fixed seats and 8 folding seats on lines 8 and 13, busier, and more often on the verge of saturation, explains IDFM to our colleagues from Le Parisien.
A strategy that makes sense but which considerably reduces the number of seats on these last lines compared to current trains (from 40 to 52 seats). A difficult change to swallow for Fatou, used to the bustling line 13: “I travel for more than an hour every morning to go to work, including at least 35 minutes in line 13. My legs hurt and I don't can hold me for a long time, it’s going to be even harder to find a seat…”
“It’s a surprising decision,” comments Marc Pélissier, President of the Association of Transport Users (FNAUT) in Île-de-France, “we are always talking more about an aging population, accessibility problems, etc. A reduction in the number of seats does not really go in this direction. » If IDFM highlights a gain in fluidity, in the trains, as for “uphills and downhills”, Marc Pélissier sees another contradiction: “There is the Grand Paris Express, I thought that line 15 was arriving to relieve the other lines precisely and free ourselves from the constraint of bringing ever more people into them…”
-“For the weakest, it’s still good to be able to sit”
For Marceau, standing is not a problem. At 22, he is in good shape but fears more for others: “For the elderly, parents with children, the weakest, it's still good to be able to sit down. » Above all, he is surprised by this development: “I imagined that the future would see more seats, with perhaps more trains thanks to automation. It surprises me that it's going in this direction. »
A meaning that does not please Sandrine at all, already a victim of “frotteurs” on several occasions: “Standing in public transport now worries me. Sitting down, I can at least monitor what's happening in front of me without having to fear what's happening behind. »
The “livestock” effect
“It’s a bit like the last acceptable limit,” warns Marc Pélissier, who fears seeing public transport constantly lose its seats. “We are often referred to transport in Asia where there are very few seats, but this is not possible. -not be the example to follow. Especially since the trains where everyone is standing always refers more to the “livestock” impression of transport. This is not what we call an improvement in transport conditions…”
More fatalistic, Margot hopes at least that this will allow passengers to be a little less crowded: “When I see the old images of the metro, everyone was seated. Now, more and more seats are being removed. Soon we will have to run alongside the train…”
