It is not a legend, the quality of the air is indeed strongly degraded in the undergrounds of the metros and RER.
The authority responsible for managing public transport in the Ile-de-France region, Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), is meeting on Wednesday 25 May to implement new measures to deal with the scourge of fine particle pollution.
Three main axes have been set in order to adopt a clear strategic line, which can also provide answers at the global level: better understanding of air quality and better informing the public, developing trains, metros and RER to reduce emission sources, and finally renewing and modernizing existing filtration tools.
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The stakes are high, especially since underground pollution remains largely unknown to players in the transport network.
“
We only know that one of the main emitters of these particles is in the braking system of trains.
We have some additional data, but punctuated by many unknowns
”, explains a representative of the IDFM.
Awareness of the phenomenon is so important that several megalopolises such as London and Seoul have also initiated processes to respond to this problem.
“
The challenge is to better understand the causes of this pollution, how the particles spread, how they circulate
,” adds the representative.
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For research, IDFM will thus call on its partner
Airparif
in order to have the appropriate scientific expertise and establish significant advances on the sources of underground pollution.
“
We are going to rely on a stronger partnership with them
”, underlines the representative.
At the same time, the RATP and the SNCF, which remain in close collaboration with the IDFM on the issue of air quality, are each working on their own to provide their innovative solutions.
Develop new tools
The IDFM has also taken concrete measures.
Starting with the renewal of around forty giant fans, representing a “
big investment over the next two years
”.
The authority will also experiment with new air filtration systems on the platforms of four RER stations.
From the trapping of particles at Gare de Lyon to the water filtration system at Neuilly Porte Maillot, via mechanical filtration at Porte de Clichy, new technologies are at the heart of the IDFM's anti-fine particle strategy.
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The RATP and the SNCF were also asked to propose technical solutions.
RATP metros and RERs will have to respond to the problem by 2034 by installing new brake shoes and linings.
The SNCF train fleet will have to be equipped with a new braking particle capture system.
With these experiments, the Ile-de-France Mobilités teams thus hope to make progress in the fight against pollution on the quays and above all to bet on the most suitable solutions, recalling that the money invested is that of the Ile-de-France residents, not de facto granting no right to error.
