Line 14, Grand Paris Express, staff… Three questions about the transport offer in Île-de-France for Paris 2024

100 days before the start of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the transport offer is the subject of debate. Several hundred thousand additional travelers are expected every day.

For the 2024 Olympic Games, the transport network in Paris and its region expects 600,000 to 800,000 additional travelers per day. But will the supply of buses, metros, RERs and trams be up to the task of this global event? The main – or even only – new development in sight is the extension of metro line 14, south to Orly airport and north to the vicinity of the Stade de France. Here are three questions that arise for Ile-de-France transport before these Olympic Games.

When will the “new” line 14 be ready?

This line 14 will constitute the backbone of the Games, according to the RATP. With 800,000 passengers expected daily, or 150,000 more than currently, this extension of automated line 14 should be effective during the second half of June. The timing is tight and the pressure is great for Jean Castex, CEO of RATP. “There is not a day that goes by without us identifying, with the teams, where the small grain of sand is located that could thwart these deadlines. We must finish building the stations, pass the safety commissions.. . So far, so good”, assures the former Prime Minister.

Next crucial step within a month: the “dry run”. The trains will make the complete journey but without passengers on the new portions of the line. At the same time, RATP is receiving new trainsets delivered by Alstom to Morangis, near Orly. In a maintenance center opened last year, the largest in Île-de-France, 10,000 m² buildings spread over more than 6 hectares.

The trains are obviously tested there before obtaining the necessary approval: “These are mechanical tests, hooking the cars together, explains François Fumat, responsible for maintaining line 14 equipment. Then we have all the brake tests, we check the tightness of the wheels, we do all the necessary safety checks before we can start rolling the shuttle.” The RATP hopes to have around fifty trains on line 14 at the time of the Olympics, instead of just 35 today.

Where are the other Grand Paris Express lines?

But this highlighting of the 14 seems a way of forgetting that other lines will not be ready for the Olympics. The Paris 2024 application file was in any case more comprehensive, with the promise of having several sections of lines 15, 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express network. The Society for Major Projects which is to build them had to postpone the openings for the end of 2025 or the end of 2026, due to technical hazards and construction delays linked to covid, she explains.

This contrast with line 14 always seems to annoy Valérie Pécresse, the president of Île-de-France Mobilités, the transport organizing authority. “If we manage to do it on time when there are the Games, it would be good for the mobilization to be as great for the delivery of the future RER B, for the opening of line 15 South, as well as 16 and 17, in short for all other lines !”she castigates.

In the absence of these new lines of the “Grand Paris Express”, and even if this will generally not concern Olympic spectators, three other extensions, in addition to line 14, are or will be completed by then: the RER E, metro line 11, and tram line T3B which now serves Porte Maillot, where the main press center for the Games will be located.

Will the existing network and staff hold up during the Games?

Beyond the question of these new lines or these extensions, the existing network must also withstand the shock during the Olympics. Laurent Djebali, general secretary of FO, the main union of metro and RER drivers, predicts that this will be the case. “Every time there has been a big event, RATP employees have responded,” he assures. He denounces the “bashing” (“denigration”) which is often carried out, while “transport is something that works well”. The RATP seems to have organized itself, between recruitment and postponement of leave, in order to ensure an offer 15% higher than that of last summer.

There is also no general concern on the part of users. But there is at least one particular point of vigilance for Marc Pélissier, president of FNAUT IDF, the main association: “There are Olympic sites which will be difficult to serve, he warns. As for the Parc des Princes – Rolland-Garros, visitors will have to find alternatives. There will be additional bus shuttles, because lines 9 and 10 will not be able to cope if everyone wants to take them at the same time.”

Serving the Stade de France, on the other hand, should prove easier, even if it will require a bit of walking for travelers, from the new terminus of line 14 in Saint-Denis. This has already been recalled several times by Valérie Pécresse, sparking some ridicule.