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Line 1 - Improving service through automation
A project designed to meet customer needs and reflect new living patterns
The change of Line 1, the Paris Metro’s oldest and most popular line, with 725,000 passengers per day, has been achieved without any major interruption to services. It is a world first given the importance of the line.
Twelve automatic trains are already running in tandem with thirty-three "classic" trains on peak hours, and the integration will continue at a rate of two new trains per month. In addition, until December 2012, when all trains will be automated, RATP is combining both automatic and manually driven trains on the same line.
This technological change has become necessary to deal with the steady increase in passenger traffic.
With the automation, Line 1’s passengers will benefit from a more
responsive and regular transport service, ensuring greater safety and comfort. One of
the main benefits of automation is the Line’s ability to react instantly to an
increase in passengers and provide the number of trains required for the
optimum operation of the line.
The installation of platform screen doors on all the lines’ platforms will contribute significantly to the smooth running of the line, avoiding interruptions associated with track intrusions, while also enhancing passenger safety.
Newly developed design
Line 1 will also benefit from a newly developed and colorful design: a red floor and multicolored stripes on the seat covers, new lighting to accentuate the impression of space, and four screens in each car which will provide passengers with continuous information.
Invisible to passengers, the sophisticated technical equipment required for the automated line was developed with industry partners, all leaders in their areas, whether in computerized signaling, automatic trains or civil engineering. These are all achievements that demonstrate RATP’s progress in mastering new operating systems for urban transportation.
Part of the modernisation programme
The project to automate line 1 of the metro, which was launched in 2004, is part of the huge modernisation programme that RATP will be undertaking over the next twenty years. The project will allow the company to meet growing demand and to satisfy its customers’ expectations in terms of safety, comfort, regularity, flexibility and information, at a time when RATP is seeking ways of anticipating and/or remedying network saturation.
