RER E users will finally be able to discover the first extension of the line, between Haussmann-Saint-Lazare and Nanterre - La Folie from Monday May 6. Travelers will pass through the new stations of Porte Maillot, with a vast skylight, and that of La Défense, which looks like a “sunken cathedral” The enormous project, carried out by SNCF Réseau, has fallen behind schedule.
Its budget amounts to 5.4 billion euros, instead of the 3.7 billion initially planned. The communities of Île-de-France had to put their hands into their pockets to contribute several hundred million euros in order to continue the project. “It’s a real state scandal,” denounced Valérie Pécresse, the president of the region, in 2021. The first RER NG trains, built by Alstom, are still being run-in.