It is both the longest metro line and one of the most “degraded” in the network.
Line 8 — which stretches over 24 km and 38 stations between Créteil-Pointe du lac and Balard — shares with lines 6 and 13 a somewhat enviable place on the podium of lines whose regularity has fallen below the 85% mark. at the end of 2023. And even if the “line weather” seems to indicate a slight recent improvement, its regular users no longer count the operating incidents and waiting times which “go off the rails” outside peak hours.
Am I the only one who can't take this @Ligne8_RATP shit anymore?!?!
What reimbursement measure for users @IDFmobilites @vpecresse??????
https://t.co/W9OjSQKM0u pic.twitter.com/LFOV8h4nZ8
— OliverTweete 🦊 (@DeparisJulien) February 27, 2024
Length of the line, understaffing driving, multiplication of traffic interruptions for abandoned packages, fatigue of the rolling stock... The causes of the deterioration in the operation of the 8, "multifactorial" according to the expression of the line director Jérôme Lefebvre , are known and well identified.
But the most important of these (the obsolescence of the MF77 trains which have been running on the line for almost 50 years) is not close to being resolved.
Like 7 other lines with aging rolling stock, the 8 will be equipped with MF19 trainsets (19 designating the year of order) currently being built in the Alstom factories.
But the Balard-Créteil line is not a priority in the delivery plan for these new metros which should begin next year on line 10. Before they arrive on the 8, it will first be necessary to build a new maintenance center in Créteil, replacing the current Lourmel center (in the 15th century) which is unsuitable for the future metro.
Initially scheduled for 2030, delivery of the first MF19s on line 8 could be brought forward by 6 months and take place in mid-2029, confirmed this Wednesday by Valérie Pécresse, the president of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) who took stock of the line recovery plan with Jean Castex, president of the RATP, during a visit to the Lourmel workshop.
“But we are not waiting for the delivery of MF19 to start immediately improving the operation of the 8,” immediately added the president of the Transport Organizing Authority which will invest 1.1 billion euros in this plan recovery.
“Don’t expect a big bang right away”
The first part of this plan already began last year with the launch of the renovation of the 59 trains currently in circulation on the 8. The cars, gradually rehabilitated, are equipped with new seats, new lighting, new floor covering and a new “film coating” in IDFM blue color to replace RATP green.
To date, 12 trains have been renovated.
All the others will follow.
These improvements should make it possible to improve “passenger comfort”… but not the operation of the line.
At RATP as at IDFM, we hope that this will, however, be the case with the strengthening of the number of drivers on the 8. They have been increased by almost 10% with the arrival of 30 additional drivers.
“Nearly half of the incidents were linked to staffing problems,” recalls Valérie Pécresse who hopes that the arrival of new recruits will quickly produce its effects.
Another apparently anecdotal improvement but which could change quite a few things: in the coming weeks, a dog technical team will be positioned in Balard to reduce intervention and “removal of doubt” times in the event of discovery of an abandoned package in a paddle.
“A real scourge on the network and particularly on line 8,” insists Jean Castex who announced the launch of a new campaign to raise user awareness of these “oversights”.
Last avenue of work to accelerate the “healing” of line 8: an improvement of the maintenance infrastructures currently concentrated to the west of the line, with the Lourmel maintenance center (which houses the only washing machine trains) and the repair workshop located a little further away, in Balard.
“Result: a train that must be inserted into the network on the Créteil side to go to the balard workshop generates traffic difficulties on the entire line,” the RATP is reminded.
This problem will disappear with the opening of the future Créteil maintenance center but not before 2029. Until then, IDFM is calling for the construction of a washing station and a new “maintenance pit” in Créteil, in anticipation of the subsequent construction of the new center.
“We are examining this hypothesis,” we are content to respond to the RATP for the moment.
Since January, the Balard repair workshop has been operating 6 days a week (instead of 5 last year) with interventions on Saturdays which should logically improve the availability of trainsets.
“We shouldn't expect a big bang on the 8, right away... But permanent improvements and small things put together will help improve the operation of the line,” concludes Valérie Pécresse , recalling that its possible automation is under study.
“But that’s by 2035, or even beyond…”