"Of course she is useful!" : the 3 bis, the smallest line of the Parisian metro, is half a century old

For 50 years, it has been an incongruity on the Paris metro map.

Line 3 bis, serving four stations between Gambetta and Porte des Lilas, in Paris (20th district), runs only 1.3 km of Parisian undergrounds.

In its trains made up of three cars - the only ones not equipped with folding seats - around 5,800 people travel every day during the week.

Or the equivalent of around sixty well-filled buses.

And again, these passenger traffic figures date from before the Covid-19 crisis ...

"It's a quiet little line"

In these times of pandemic, the ranks are even more sparse than usual on the 3 bis.

At the Gambetta terminus, half a dozen travelers are waiting on the quay this Thursday.

“Yes, it's a quiet little line.

But it is rarely empty, especially around 7 p.m.!

testifies Bernard, 71 years old.

I take it every day to go home.

It's practical, I do two stations, from Gambetta to Saint-Fargeau.

"

Patient on his crutch, José, also in his seventies, is another regular customer of the “shuttle”, as he calls it.

"Of course this line is useful!

he said.

Well, it's true that she lacks connections.

But she keeps me from walking up Avenue Gambetta.

"

400 meters further on, at the Pelleport metro station, the platform is completely deserted.

You have to wait nearly ten minutes to see a user appear.

“I take the 3 bis when I'm in a hurry,” says Djidjiga, 25.

I would rather take the metro than the bus and be stuck in traffic jams… ”On the condition that the elevators, which allow you to descend nearly 20 meters underground, work.

“My clients often tell me about the long, very steep stairs to access the platforms.

For my part, I prefer to walk ”, confides Nathalie, waitress of a brasserie located in front of the Pelleport station.

Far from the crowds of the years 1921 to 1960

Uncrowded today, the Pelleport and Saint-Fargeau stations have nevertheless known large crowds in the past.

Popular line par excellence, from 1921 to 1971, the Gambetta-Porte-des-Lilas section formed the eastern end of line 3. Travelers could come directly from Saint-Lazare, Opéra or République.

In the 1960s, transport needs were increasing on the Porte de Bagnolet side.

The public authorities then decided to extend line 3 to Gallieni (Seine-Saint-Denis).

And in order to avoid a forked operation of the extended 3, the section going from Gambetta to Porte-des-Lilas is sacrificed.

On March 26, 1971, the old end of line 3 was thus “disconnected”, giving rise to this tiny appendage, renamed “line 3 bis”.

The platforms at Saint-Fargeau station are built more than 20 meters underground.

LP / Olivier Arandel  

On April 2, 1971, the extension of the 3 to Gallieni was inaugurated.

The flow of travelers arriving from the west and the center of Paris is drying up.

On Avenue Gambetta, the elegant entrance halls of the Pelleport and Saint-Fargeau stations, with mosaics typical of the “Roaring Twenties”, lose a good part of their public.

The 3 bis, away from tourist areas, will never regain its affluence of yesteryear.

Although connected to lines 3, 11 and to the T3b tram, it now provides primarily internal service to the 20th arrondissement.

"Take a good look at the metro map, if it was not there, there would only be the bus to circulate in this sector of Paris, and we would be very annoyed", notes Jean-Philippe, an inhabitant of Seine- St Denis.

A merger project with the 7 bis

To improve the transport offer in the north-east of the capital, elected officials have several times expressed the idea of ​​merging the 3 bis with the 7 bis, the other "small" line serving the heights of eastern Paris. .

According to RATP estimates, this new axis connecting the Louis-Blanc station (Paris, 10th) to Gambetta, passing under the Buttes-Chaumont, could generate a traffic increase of 30% to 60%.

But this connection project - deemed not to be a priority - was postponed until Greek calendars.

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While waiting for new projects, the 3 bis at the top of its half-century continues to cultivate its singular charm, far from the crowds and stressed travelers.