A Crossrail for Paris

Building new tunnels under a city to connect suburban railway systems is not unique to London, writes Andrew Sharp. The UK capital has Thameslink and Crossrail, while Paris has its regional express (RER) system and is currently expanding it.

Updates on this work were given to BTN at this year’s Smart Metro Congress in Paris along with viewing some of the developments under way, many of which will affect business travellers to the city.

Line E runs from the east of the city through Magenta station to Haussmann Saint Lazare. Magenta is between Gare du Nord, for trains to London, Lille and Brussels, and Gare de l’Est, the future terminus for Paris’ airport express to Charles de Gaulle.

It is being extended westwards under Porte Maillot, adjacent to the Palais des Congres and close to the Arc de Triomphe, to serve the business area of La Defence and Nanterre, a university suburb, then beyond along an existing line.

Trains will run a minimum of 200m apart, every 108sec: those from the western termini will go under the city to Magenta, those from the eastern suburbs will go under the city to Nanterre in the west.

www.ratp.fr/en

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