Modernisation of the Paris metro: line 11 gets new trains

RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités inaugurated Thursday latest-generation trains, longer, quieter and more energy efficient, intended for line 11 of the Paris metro, which is to be extended to Rosny-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, and announced for spring 2024. By the end of summer 2023, the oldest trains in the RATP network, the "MP59", in circulation for sixty years on line 11, will disappear to make way for the new "MP14".

The new metros include five cars, compared to four currently, for an increased capacity of up to 562 passengers. "We will carry 25% more passengers, reduce the time between two metros at rush hour, consume 20% less electricity, and noise emission will decrease by 40%," said Jean Castex, CEO of the RATP, at a ceremony in the presence of the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune.

An "extremely fast" substitution

The renewal of the fleet should be done by the end of July 2023 at the rate of four trains per week. A substitution "extremely fast", according to Pierre Florent, director of the line 11 project. "It's a great day for line 11, it's going to be day and night," enthused the president of Île-de-France Mobilités Valérie Pécresse, before cutting the inaugural ribbon of the new metro. Ordered from the manufacturer Alstom, these new trains, cousins of those already in circulation on lines 4 and 14 of the Paris metro, the latter being automatic, unlike those of line 11, represent according to Pierre Florent "a first necessary step to put into service the extension".

The addition of six stations on the line, from the current terminus Mairie des Lilas to Rosny-Bois-Perrier, will lead to a sharp increase in the attendance of this metro, "from 130,000 passengers per day to nearly 200,000 per day" in 2024, said Pierre Florent. The extension of line 11, over 5.4 km, is expected to cost €1.08 billion, plus €214 million for the adaptation and modernisation of existing stations and €310 million for new trains.