Paris Métro Line 1

Paris Métro Line 1 is one of the sixteen lines composing the Paris Métro (in Paris, France). It connects the La Défense – Grande Arche and Château de Vincennes stations. With a length of 16.5 km (10.3 mi), it constitutes an important "East-West" transportation route for the City of Paris. Excluding RER (French:Réseau Express Régional) lines, it is the most utilised subway line on the network with 213 million travellers in 2008 or 583,000 people per day on average.

Line 1 (as indicated by ist name) was the first line to open, with ist inaugural section opening in 1900. It is also the first line on the network to be converted from manually driven operation to fully automated operation. Conversion, which commenced in 2007 and was completed in 2011, included new rolling stock, the MP 05, and laying of platform edge doors in all stations. The first eight MP 05 trains (#s 501 through 508) went into passenger service on 3 November 2011, allowing the accelerated transfer of the existing MP 89CC stock to line 4. The conversion allowed Line 1 to operate as the system's second fully automated line, after Line 14.

A transition to fully automated services was done without major interruption to passenger traffic. The new MP 05 rolling stock was able to operate efficiently alongside the manually-driven MP 89 CC rolling stock until there were enough MP 05 to no longer facilitate the need of the MP 89. Full automation was achieved for evening services in May 2012, with an increase to weekend services by August 2012. As of 15 December 2012 Line 1 is 100% automated with only a few MP 89 CC trains being used during rush hours when needed. The remaining 5 trains will remain stored on Line 1 near the Fontenay workshops until a new garage for Line 4 is opened south of the new Mairie de Montrouge station in February 2013.

History

In November 1898, Paris decided to undertake preliminary work of the metro network with the construction of the first line of the Parisian subway system. Work lasted twenty months under the leadership of engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe and was financed by the municipality of Paris. The line was divided into eight parts distributed between several companies. On 19 July 1900, the line was opened between Porte Maillot and Porte de Vincennes to connect the various sites of the World Fair. Only eight stations were finalized and opened with the inauguration; ten more were gradually opened between 6 August and 1 September 1900. The line followed the east-west monument axis in Paris. These eighteen stations were entirely built under the control of engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe, the majority of them 75 metres long and 4.10 metres wide. In March 1934, the first extension into the suburbs brought service to Château of Vincennes towards the east.

Chronology

• 20 April 1896: the Paris City Council adopts the Fulgence Bienvenüe network project
• 30 March 1898: declaration of public utility of the first six lines of the "metropolitan railway"
• 4 October 1898: launch of works of line 1
• 19 July 1900: Inauguration of line 1 between Porte de Vincennes and Porte Maillot. Only 8 of the 18 planned stations were opened.
• 6 August and 1 September 1900: The other 10 stations of the line opened.
• 24 March 1934: The line was extended to the east from Porte de Vincennes to the castle of Vincennes.
• 15 November 1936: Porte Maillot station was rebuilt in order to allow a further extension of the line to the west.
• 29 April 1937: The line was extended to the west from Porte Maillot to Pont de Neuilly.
• 1963: The rails were converted in order to accommodate rubber-tyred trains (the MP 59). At the same time, stations were enlarged in order to accommodate 6-car trains instead of 5-car trains.
• 1 April 1992: The line was extended again to the west from Pont de Neuilly to La Défense business district.
• 1997: MP 89CC rolling stock was introduced, replacing the older MP 59 stock.
• 2007: Automation project commenced.
• 3 November 2011: Cascading of MP 89CC to MP 05 stock began, as the automation project (construction) was completed.
• May 2012: Full automation is achieved for evening services.
• July 2012: Full automation is achieved for weekend services.
• 15 December 2012: Full automation reaches 100% status, allowing the MP 89CC to no longer be needed on Line.

Rolling Stock

Line 1 has had five different types of rolling stock throughout the years (from fr:Ligne 1 du métro de Paris#Matériel roulant).

• M1 (Westinghouse): 1900 – 1921
• Sprague-Thomson: 1913 – 1964
• MP 59: 1963 – 1998
• MP 89CC: 1997 – December 2012
• MP 05: 2011 – present

Automation

After successfully opening Line 14 as a fully automatic line, the RATP began to explore the possibility of automating existing lines on the system. The agency first focused on Line 1, since it is the busiest of all of the Paris subway lines, and also the line most frequented by tourists. Automation not only allowed Paris to remain as a model for technological innovations in the railway industry but also increases the number of lines in normal service when RATP workers are striking (from MP 05).

Work began in 2007 and was largely carried out without interrupting passenger traffic. Preliminary work involved electrical and signaling upgrades throughout the entire line. Work also commenced on converting the original Porte Maillot station (also known as "Espace Maillot") into a light maintenance facility for the MP 05 rolling stock. In 2009, work commenced on installing platform screen doors; with Bérault and Porte Maillot being the first stations to be equipped. Due to ist curved platform, Bastille (in 2011) was among the last stations to be equipped. During this time, individual stations were intermittently closed to allow platforms to be leveled with the height of the train floors (from fr:Ligne 1 du métro de Paris).

Although most of the stations remain the same as they were prior to automation (with the exception of the platform screen doors), many stations like St. Paul, received brand new signage. Franklin D. Roosevelt received a complete overhaul from ist post World War II facade to a more contemporary & modern look.

On 3 November 2011, the first eight trains of the new MP 05 rolling stock were put into service on Line 1. These trains ran alongside the MP 89 CC rolling stock until enough automated stock was available for passenger service. This cascading was achieved thanks to the SAET (French:Système d'automatisation de l'exploitation des trains) system, which is the first version of Siemens Transportation Systems' Trainguard MT CBTC. The arrival of the new stock allowed the RATP to accelerate transfer of the MP 89 from Line 1 to Line 4 at a rate of about 2 to 3 trains per month between November, 2011 and November, 2012. That rate increased to 4 trains per month during November and December, 2012.

Major milestones were reached in May and July, 2012 as full automation reached sufficient levels by which the MP 89 were no longer needed during late evenings and weekends respectively. For the Nuit Blanche during October, 2012, Line 1 also operated in full automation. The final milestone was reached on 15 December 2012, as full automation of Line 1 approached 100%, allowing the remaining MP 89 trains to be pulled from regular service on 21 December 2012. Due to insufficient storage space on Line 4, the remaining 6 to 7 MP 89 trains remained stored on the Line 1 tracks near Fontenay until a new garage in the Montrouge area opened. That opening was tentatively set for February/March, 2013 and will coincide with the opening of the new Mairie de Montrouge station opening on Line 4.

Future

A western extension of Line 1 from La Défense station to the center of Nanterre is being considered. Another proposal being investigated would have a new station constructed at Fontenay – Rigollots, just before the line climbs to the surface to enter Fontenay shops, and then continue eastward to Val de Fontenay to connect with RER lines A and E.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Paris Métro Line 1" and modified on 22 July 2019 under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.