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New ventilation system for metro and RER
RATP has embarked upon an ambitious programme to improve ventilation on the metro and RER, in an effort to get some fresh air into its stations.
The price of the growing success of the metro and RER
RATP is having to run more and more metro and RER trains in order to meet growing demand. The constant increase in passenger numbers is causing a significant increase in temperature in underground stations. In an effort to improve the safety and comfort of its customers, RATP is investing €90 million to modernise and adapts its ventilation and smoke extraction system.
Some 150 ventilation systems will be renewed or reinforced by 2013. Eighteen brand new ventilation systems will also be created, particularly on those metro lines where the trains’ tyres generate the most heat (lines 1, 4, 6 and 11).
A technical challenge
In order to create a new underground ventilation system, a ventilation shaft must be installed. The air is evacuated from a tunnel linking two stations towards an air vent at street level. At least eighteen months of engineering work are required to create such a structure, as well as expertise in a number of fields, including civil engineering, masonry, aeraulics, acoustics, electricity and vibration mechanics.
The reinforcement and renewal of existing systems do not require any modifications to be made to the existing ventilation shafts. The works will last approximately four months, with around ten technicians working on each site each day.
