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The gigantic construction of the Grand Paris Express (the new express subway lines around the inner city of Paris) is now in full swing. By far the largest infrastructure project in Europe. :cheers:

Grand Paris Express: the construction project of the century

Paris Match
May 10, 2019

In order to build or extend the five automated lines of the Grand Paris Express, it is necessary to bore 205 kilometers of tunnels. Currently, 5000 people work underground. Here's a report.

Loïc Heddebaux, 22 y/o, leaves the control cabin of a tunnel boring machine, one of 16 such machines that will bore the new metro lines. At the Robespierre pit in Bagneux, on March 26th.

42 meters below the ground, sitting eight hours a day in a narrow cabin, Loïc Heddebaux directs his monster. A 106-meter-long beast with a cutter head 10 meters in diameter, weighing 135 tons. So it's out of question to deviate from line and grade. In the tunnel, the temperature can reach 50°C. And the pressure on workers is at a maximum. [...]

Slowly but surely, the relentless Ellen [tunnel boring machine] swallows the meters: 12 per day, 24 hours a day and 5 days a week (the weekend is for maintenance). "We're behaving like a mole," says the 22-year-old apprentice pilot. "We are going forward ; every 2 meters, the tunnel segments are laid, large pieces of concrete that form the framework of the tunnel; we swallow the materials, and we still advance ... The hardest thing is not to bore but to make sure that the tunnel support is sufficient and will not collapse." [...]

Here is being built the future Villejuif-Institut Gustave-Roussy station. In this 63-meter wide and 55-meter deep pit, two tunnel boring machines will meet each other: that of line 14 and that of line 15.

[...] Since April 19, the tunnel boring machine has already bored 16 meters. 3.4 kilometers still remain to reach the Villejuif-Louis Aragon station. Expected arrival in the summer of 2020. Today, four tunnel boring machines are progressing at this rate in the suburbs of the Paris region. But Thierry Dallard, CEO of the Société du Grand Paris (SGP), already has his eyes fixed ahead: "By the end of the year, there will be 16 TBMs." A world record! It took 11 TBMs for the Channel Tunnel but only 6 for the new Moscow Metro, inspired from the Parisian experience. "This new subway network will be built at a speed never matched before," promises the boss of the Grand Paris Express. Yet, not everything is going as planned. The works, which were to be completed in 2024, are running late. "People talk of not meeting the deadlines, but the first government decree of public utility was published on December 24, 2014. In 2030, that is to say in fifteen years, we will have built 205 kilometers of lines and 68 stations, that is to say the equivalent of the current Parisian Métro network!" [...]

Final cost has swelled from 19 to 35 billion euros, which remains enormous [despite cutting the number of metro stations], but this sum of money finances the largest infrastructure project in Europe, whose economic returns will concern 8 million people.

[...]

To finance this colossal construction project, on top of dedicated tax revenues, the Société du Grand Paris borrows from banks and financial markets. In March, a second bond issue raised € 2 billion from around one hundred international investors.

[...]

https://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Societe/Grand-Paris-le-chantier-du-siecle

 

[metro-world]

Paris PSD doors

For obvious sanitation reasons, the air in the restaurant will be totally isolated from the one in the tunnel. You may haven't noticed but there are huge glass windows totally isolating the area from the one in which trains are circulating. This should also significantly reduce trains noise as well.

The restaurant will have its own independent air circulation system, which is the major challenge according to the architects of the project, the SAME agency.

I agree, that the PSD doors are too high. In China and Japan such are Modernisations are about 2/3 of high and you can look over them. This is much better as such high ones in old stations in Paris!

 

[ArunasTravelPhoto]

Paris Metro

 

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^^That's a very old picture. These two ugly 1970s buildings have seen then been completely redesigned (new clading, etc).

 

[Suburbanist]

Which stations /line segments were cut out of the Grand Express project?

 

[Clery]

Which stations /line segments were cut out of the Grand Express project?

None according to my latest knownledge. Have you any news saying otherwise?

I'll try to make a full summary of the current situation according to my current understanding. I would be glad if anyone would correct me in case I'm not up to date.

An important thing to have in mind in order to fully understand current projects is that there are 2 government bodies currently building metro extensions in Paris:
- Île-de-France Mobilités [IDFM], the regional transport authority supervising rail, metro, tramway and bus services
- Société du Grand Paris [SGP], the national body which have been established to manage "Grand Paris Express" project

Those are project managers but not operators. We don't know yet which company will operate the 4 new metro lines, this will be determined later by a public procurement procedure (marché public in French law).

Overall, we currently have under construction:

• from "Mairie de Montrouge" to "Bagneux"(opening expected in 2021) - [IDFM]
• from "Mairie des Lilas" to "Rosny Bois-Perrier"(2023) - [IDFM]
• from "Front Populaire" to "Mairie d'Aubervilliers"(2021) - [IDFM]
• from "Saint-Lazare" to "Mairie de Saint-Ouen" (2020) - [IDFM]
• from "Olympiades" to "Orly airport" (2024) - [SGP]
• from "Noisy Champs" to "Pont de Sèvres" (2025) - [SGP]
• from "Saint-Denis Pleyel" to "Clichy Montfermeil" (2024) - [SGP]
• from "Saint-Denis Pleyel" to "Le Bourget" (2024) - [SGP]
• from "Massy Palaiseau" to "CEA Saint-Aubin", preparation works only (2026) - [SGP]
• from "Haussmann Saint-Lazare" to "Nanterre La Folie" (2022) - [IDFM]
• from "Nanterre La Folie" to "Mantes-la-Jolie"(2024) - [IDFM]

The planned projects which are very solid at this stage:

• from "Mairie de Saint-Ouen" to "Saint-Denis Pleyel" (2024) - [SGP]
• from "Pont de Sèvres" to "Champigny Centre" via "Saint-Denis Pleyel" (2030) - [SGP]
• from "Clichy Montfermeil" to "Noisy Champs" (2030) - [SGP]
• from "Le Bourget" to "Triangle de Gonesse" (2027) - [SGP]
• from "Triangle de Gonesse" to "Le Mesnil-Amelot" (2030) - [SGP]
• from "Massy Palaiseau" to "Orly airport" (2027) - [SGP]
• from "CEA Saint-Aubin" to "Versailles Chantiers" (2030) - [SGP]

The other announced projects which are still uncertain:

• from "Château de Vincennes" to "Val de Fontenay" (2025? 2032?), public inquiry initiated - [IDFM]
• merger, extended from "Louis Blanc" to "Château Landon" with connection to Gare de l'Est (date undefined), Supported by the City of Paris, not yet approved by IDFM - [Paris City Council]
• from "La Courneuve" to "Le Bourget" (2030?), proposed in IDFM master scheme, not yet initiated - [IDFM]
• from "Mairie de Montreuil" to "Montreuil - Hôpital" (2030?), proposed in IDFM master scheme, not yet initiated - [IDFM]
• from "Gare d'Austerlitz" to "Ivry Gambetta" (before 2030), approved by IDFM, detailed studies in progress - [IDFM]
• from "Ivry Gambetta" to "Vitry-sur-Seine" (beyond 2030), proposed by IDFM, not yet initiated - [IDFM]
• from "Rosny Bois-Perrier" to "Noisy Champs" (2025?), initiated by SGP, no recent news - [SGP]
• from "Mairie d'Issy" to "Issy RER" (before 2030), proposed by IDFM, supported by GPSO, not yet initiated - [IDFM]
• from "Saint-Denis Pleyel" to "Nanterre La Folie" (beyond 2030), proposed by SGP, not yet initiated - [SGP]
• from "Versailles Chantiers" to "Nanterre La Folie" (beyond 2030), proposed by SGP, not yet initiated - [SGP]

 

[Alargule]

[...]"Noisy Champs"[...]

Love this name.

 

[nanar]

It's seems funny in english language but not so much in french.

The name of the place, "Noisy" comes from "noix" = "nuts" (the fruits)
and "champs" means fields.

 

[Suburbanist]

Will the new metro lines be all rail-based, or will be some rubber-traction based?

 

[zergcerebrates]

Does Paris have any plans to renovate their stations?

 

[SolsticeBaby]

Does Paris have any plans to renovate their stations?

It is actually a continuous process. There are 302 stations in Paris.

Since 2000, a huge investment program called Metro2030 is progressively renovating stations, trains, automatisation, wifi coverage, lighting, signaling systems, etc. 500M€ are currently invested each year. By 2030, 100% of the network would have been renovated (273 stations by 2020).

 

[Minato ku]

I agree, that the PSD doors are too high. In China and Japan such are Modernisations are about 2/3 of high and you can look over them. This is much better as such high ones in old stations in Paris!

Line 4 has plenty of trespassing on the tracks, so they prefered to have high height doors where people couldn't acces to the track.
Already on lines 1 and 13, half height doors are taller than those in Asia.

Installation of platform doors is completed at Saint-Germain des Pres, the next station to be equipped is Chateau d'Eau.


Saint-Germain des Près by Minato ku, sur Flickr

 

[TER200]

Will the new metro lines be all rail-based, or will be some rubber-traction based?

All new lines will have steel rails, including the small-profile 18.
Only the extensions of lines 11 and 14 have to cope with rubber-tires.

 

[Clery]

All new lines will have steel rails, including the small-profile 18.
Only the extensions of lines 11 and 14 have to cope with rubber-tires.

Personally I like rubber-tyred trains. They accelerate faster and slow down faster which is great for high frequency on lines where stations are near one another (such as lines 1 and 4). I have taken the metro more than 10,000 times in my life so you can't say that's wrong. I just know it out of experience.

The advantage becomes less important though when stations are more distant to one another, which will be the case for Grand Paris Express. At that point an elevated cruising speed becomes more important and I agree that steel-wheel is better for that.

 

[TER200]

Personally I like rubber-tyred trains. They accelerate faster and slow down faster which is great for high frequency on lines where stations are near one another (such as lines 1 and 4). I have taken the metro more than 10,000 times in my life so you can't say that's wrong. I just know it out of experience.

The advantage becomes less important though when stations are more distant to one another, which will be the case for Grand Paris Express. At that point an elevated cruising speed becomes more important and I agree that steel-wheel is better for that.

Have you ever been in Berlin ? The MP89 seem very slow after that :cheers:




However you pointed very vell the reason of the choice for new lines. The rubber-tires system is also quieter on sharp curves (like on the old parisian network), but noisier at high speed.

 

[dars-dm]

Are there any useful station plans that can help with navigation when entering stations or changing between lines? The corridors at St Lazare/CdG-Etoile/Bastille/Republique seem to be really tangled and hard to navigate

Why were they built like that?

 

[Alargule]

CPARama has some station layout maps, but I believe they're (very) old - as in from the same time the stations were built. And since the majority of Parisian metro stations were built prior to 1940...

This one, for example, for St. Lazare (way before line 14 and even the RER got there):

 

[dars-dm]

How often do they expand/extend/widen/replace corridors at old stations?

 

[Silly_Walks]

It's seems funny in english language but not so much in french.

The name of the place, "Noisy" comes from "nuts" (the fruits)
and "champs" means fields.

Nutfield sounds even funnier in English :gossip:

 

[TER200]

How often do they expand/extend/widen/replace corridors at old stations?

When a new line is added in the stations, and maybe exceptionnally in other cases (ex : Châtelet-Les Halles got a new entrance in 2017).