just extended to Nanterre, the RER E is experiencing a chaotic first morning

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It was supposed to be a morning of celebration. This Monday, December 16, 2024, SNCF and Île-de-France Mobilités were to officially celebrate the extension of the RER E to Hauts-de-Seine. But it was marred by two problems which disrupted traffic for several hours: an electrical outage in Nanterre-la-Folie and a “traveler incident” at Porte Maillot (16th and 17th arrondissements of Paris).

“Two incidents on the day of the launch cannot be invented, but I hope it will not happen again,” declared Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, with a smile, after saying “sorry for the trying morning”.

“There are always problems”

Smiles that were not perceptible among the travelers on the platforms of Saint-Lazare station (8th). “There are always problems, we’re fed up,” breathes Kneo who is trying to reach Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis) from Saint-Lazare station (8th).

“We’ve been parked there for almost 20 minutes,” laments Raffael, who is standing next to his father Francesco. The two men were returning from the Italian consulate in the 16th arrondissement and had not taken transport for a long time. “We didn’t miss it. Frankly, it's getting worse and worse. It's catastrophic to see this on the day of the line extension », declares the retired father. “Luckily I no longer work,” he adds.

Anaïs was working this Monday morning. She made a salient comment on social networks. “A great service, thank you Île-de-France Mobilités for the beautiful communications campaign. I had to reduce my travel timeto go to work with the extension of line E, result, I'm going to spend 1h40 today instead of an hour usually ! ».

Travel times cut in half

If the morning has tensed people's spirits, everyone nevertheless welcomes the major progress represented by the extension of the RER E to the Nanterre-la-Folie station. Franco-British, Richard works in La Défense and often returns to London via the Gare du Nord (10th). Thanks to Alstom's new new generation (NG) trains which will run every 4 minutes during peak hours and 6 during off-peak hours, the businessman will see its travel time divided by two : 10 minutes from now on compared to 19 before thanks to a maximum speed of 120 km/h. “It will make my life and my travels better,” he admits.

“I work in Fontenay-sous-Bois (Val-de-Marne) and I live in Nanterre, so obviously, it’s a big time saving over a day,” explains Diop, who however did not calculate the time that he was going to save.

In detail, from Gare du Nord (10th), it now takes 10 minutes to go to La Défense and 15 minutes to reach Nanterre-la-Folie.

Less saturated lines?

For Simon and Marie, more than the travel time saved, it is the fact of “avoiding the RER A” that delights them. In fact, the arrival of the RER E will make it possible to unclog several other lines like the RER A, B and D mainly.

SNCF expects – 15% attendanceon the RER A between La Défense and Châtelet and – 12 %on RER B and D between Châtelet and Gare du Nord. In 2025, “600,000 travelers should take this line compared to 300,000 today,” says Valérie Pécresse who thinks that this line will “change the habits of Ile-de-France residents”. To see “the revolution” that Chistophe Franichet, general director of SNCF Voyageurs, is talking about, it will be necessary for the trains to operate and arrive on time.

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