A great Christmas gift for users. The automation of line 4 of the Paris metro is nearing completion. Started in 2016, work for the complete automation of the second busiest line in the network (after line 1) will be completed before the end of December, confirms Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM).
The line thus becomes the third in the network after line 14, opened in 1998, and line 1, automated in 2012.
More comfort, fewer incidents
“Automation is very useful, and for us, it is the future,” commented Laurent Probst, general director of IDFM, during a visit to the Montrouge station this Thursday morning. A satisfaction all the greater as this operation will be completed within the planned time frame.
Line users already know this, but many driverless trains, whose automations are supplied by Siemens Mobility, are already in circulation. To date, 35 of the 40 in circulation are automated. The rest will follow in the coming weeks with 100% automatic service in mid-December. To ensure important service, maintenance and have an emergency reserve, the necessary fleet is estimated at 50 or 52 trainsets.
“Automation will allow us to bring trains closer together during rush hour to ensure better service,” explains Cyril Condé, director of project management at RATP, who puts forward the three advantages of automation on comfort. passengers: regularity, which allows travelers to be better distributed; resilience to incidents, which are fewer thanks to screen doors and a faster resumption of traffic. And better flexibility, which allows you to adjust the number of trains in circulation depending on traffic.
Line 13 for 2033, 7,8 and 9 in the viewfinder
Assets which definitely seem to please IDFM, since Laurent Probst took the opportunity to announce that the much criticized line 13 is next on the list (if we do not take into account lines 15 and 18 of the Grand Paris , currently under construction) and should be automated within approximately ten years.
A call for tenders will be launched at the end of the year, and the service provider’s contract must be signed in 2025, with the aim of delivery in 2033. “IDFM wishes to go further, adds Laurent Probst, and perhaps make several at the same time. We think of lines 7, 8 and 9 for example. »