It is a question of comfort for everyday users, but also of image for Paris and its region. Less than a year from the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the capital, modernization continues in Ile-de-France public transport. The culmination of this policy launched by the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, when she was elected in 2016: the replacement or renovation of the oldest trains, some of which are nearly 50 years old. loyal service. What’s the latest? A look at what’s changed recently, and what’s to come in the coming weeks.
On line 8, the second longest in the network which connects Balard to Créteil-Pointe du Lac, the first two completely renovated MF77 trains arrived this summer. Four others should be deployed during the month of September, the objective being to reach the 44 renovated trains in 2030. An investment of more than 40 million euros for Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the authority organizer of public transport in the Ile-de-France region, which thus intends to “improve the comfort of travelers”. From 2030, the MF77 trains – for Métros Fer ordered in 1977 – will begin to be definitively replaced by the MF19, ordered in 2019.
These brand new metros have been ordered from the Alstom-Bombardier consortium, which is to deliver more than 400 from 2030. Deemed “more robust, more efficient and more comfortable”, the MF19s also have a capacity of 13% higher than that of the trains currently circulating on the network. Ultimately, these trains will equip eight metro lines, including lines 8, 10, 3bis, 7bis, 13, 3, 7 and 12.
In the meantime, other modernizations are underway, particularly on line 11, which connects Châtelet to Mairie des Lilas. After no less than sixty years of running straight on the rails, the 23 old MP59 trainsets – for Metros on Tires ordered in 1959 – which equipped the line have begun to be gradually replaced by 20 brand new MP14 trainsets. In September, 18 of them should circulate. “Longer, more reliable and more comfortable, the MP14 trains are already running on line 14 and line 4, in their automatic and longer version”, also underlines IDFM, which specifies that on line 11, unlike the two lines automatic vehicles mentioned above, the trains “will be piloted by drivers”.
In September, new trains are also expected on line 6, which connects Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile to Nation, with seven new MP89 metros – Metros on Tires ordered in 1989 – freshly transferred since April. To replace the old MP73 trains, almost fifty years old. Before the end of the year, ten of these trains will run on the line, known to cross the Seine in front of the Eiffel Tower. By 2026, a total of 45 MP89 trains on line 4 will replace the MP73 on line 6, which are due to be retired.
On line 14, the deployment of brand new metros continues. By the end of the year, the line will be fully equipped with these eight-car automatic MP14s. Ready for its extension to Saint-Denis-Pleyel to the north, then to Orly airport to the south, the following year. So many new features particularly awaited by users, who are numerous on social networks to complain about the wear and tear of certain trains, in particular on lines considered as annexes.
Some are having fun with the “small” renovations, which seem to have been carried out in order to put the dust under the carpet. This is the case, for example, with certain MF88s on line 7bis, which connects Louis Blanc to Pré-Saint-Gervais, whose anthracite gray floor was repainted this summer to become pearl grey. A change that has indeed noticed this passionate surfer of the Parisian metro, who considers all the same “that the whole thing always looks gray”.
An observation shared by the president of the FNAUT Île-de-France Pélissier, who evokes “very old equipment” which still runs on the Ile-de-France network. The user representative still welcomes these new deliveries: “It feels good”. “Deliveries are continuing on lines 4 and 14, there are renovations on lines 6 and 8, that’s good,” he said. However, he expressed some fears concerning the lines whose equipment will not be renewed before 2030. “Today, what worries us is the MF19s which must be delivered on line 10 in 2025. Just like the lines 7, 8 and 12, on which new equipment will not arrive until 2030. Marc Pélissier nevertheless remains optimistic: “2023 is going to be an exceptional year”, with the extensions of lines 11 and 13, of the RER E with the project Eole and the T3 tram.
