The Ile-de-France Mobilités regional transport authority (IDFM) is concerned about the deterioration since the summer of regularity in the Paris metro, operated by the RATP, due to a shortage of drivers. The latest regularity figures available, those for September, are bad on lines 3, 4, 6, 8 and especially 11, 12 and 13, reports to AFP, Wednesday, November 2, the general manager of IDFM, Laurent Probst .
“It’s rare to have such low numbers on several metro lines”he regrets, referring to much too long waiting times between two trains on certain lines – and an explosion of complaints on social networks. “At the end of September, we had no alert from the RATP. (…) We do not yet have the figures for October, but we have a feeling that they are of the same ilk”notes Laurent Probst, acknowledging that lines 1, 5, 9 and 14 work well.
These problems in the metro are added to those of the buses, which have become very irregular in the Paris conurbation for a few months. “There is a real lack of drivers. The personnel problem that we thought was confined to the bus is now spilling over to the metro, and that is worryingunderlines the person in charge. The RATP is having difficulty recruiting, we have to help it recruit.”
>> Public transport: the lack of drivers leads to traffic disruptions throughout France
In the meantime, he encourages the management to “put the package when it’s crowded”, that is to say in particular on Tuesday and Thursday. Laurent Probst believes that the “operating difficulties” of the RATP do not come from the slight drop in the offer wanted by IDFM to save money, while attendance is still 15% lower than its pre-pandemic level. “We are quite ready to order more offers if attendance goes up, the subject is not there”he concludes.