the metros will no longer stop in the event of passenger discomfort, to “improve the regularity of the lines before the Olympics”, explains the vice-president of Île-de-France Mobilités

Valérie Pécresse, president of the region and of Île-de-France Mobilités, indicated that from June, in the event of passenger discomfort, metro drivers could leave without waiting for help to arrive at the dock.

“The objective is that before the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we can give the RATP the means to improve the regularity of its lines“, justifies Tuesday February 27 on franceinfo the vice-president of Île-de-France Mobilités, Grégoire de Lasteyrie, after the announcements of Valérie Pécresse, president of the organizing authority for Ile-de-France transport.

Valérie Pécresse, also president of the Île-de-France region, indicated that from June, metro drivers will no longer have to wait for help to arrive at the platform in the event of passenger discomfort. Volunteer and trained personnel will be able to move the victim to the platform themselves and leave without waiting, in order to take the other travelers to their destination. “Passenger discomfort in 2023 caused a cumulative 217 hours of downtime on all metro lines”, indicates Grégoire de Lasteyrie. The elected official specifies that the training will take place in the coming months, so that the measure can be effective from June.

Pledges given to employees

Jean-Christophe Delprat, FO-RATP delegate, the first union within the Parisian transport authority, criticizes this announcement, fearing in particular the possibility of “legal consequences if the victim’s relatives decide to file a complaint, in the event of death or otherwise. It will not be Ms. Pécresse, not the Samu, not the RATP management who will come to take responsibility [cette responsabilité] before the courts.” “All this will be done within a planned framework, in conjunction with the Samu, so that in certain situations, the movement of the victim may be possible. But not in all cases”answers Grégoire de Lasteyrie.

Furthermore, Valérie Pécresse indicated that dog brigades would be recruited “to sniff abandoned packages and remove doubts in a quarter of an hour” on their dangerousness or not. “We are going to work with the Minister of the Interior to identify scenarios where we could ease security constraints”namely the preventive stopping of traffic until the threat is eliminated, indicates Grégoire de Lasteyrie.