The first metro line to be built in Paris, and still its busiest, takes delivery of eight new driverless trains on Thursday.

"/> The first metro line to be built in Paris, and still its busiest, takes delivery of eight new driverless trains on Thursday.

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METRO

Oldest Paris metro line gets driverless trains

The first metro line to be built in Paris, and still its busiest, takes delivery of eight new driverless trains on Thursday.

Published: 3 November 2011 09:00 CET
Oldest Paris metro line gets driverless trains
LoboStudio Hamburg

Line 1, which opened in 1900, carries 725,000 passengers a day and runs from the La Défense business district in the west to the Bois de Vincennes in the east.

It is known to almost every visitor to Paris as the line which connects major sites including the Bastille, Louvre museum, Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe. 

The eight new driverless trains will be followed by a further 41 by the end of 2012, making the line fully automatic. Metro operator RATP claims the new trains can respond more easily to surges in numbers of passengers as they are not dependent on available drivers.

Preparations for the new trains have been underway for several years including adaptation of the track and installation of automatic safety barriers along the platforms of each of the 25 stations.

The line is not the first in Paris to get driverless trains. The newest line, number 14, used them from the outset. However, line 1 had to be adapted while keeping trains running on a line that is essential to move tourists and Parisians around the city.

“Line 14 was designed to be automatic from the outset while on line 1 the work has been carried out without any interruption to the service, a world first,” RATP told daily newspaper Le Parisien.

The Paris metro has 16 lines in total, not counting the five high speed RER lines which connect major hubs and run to the city’s suburbs. It carries over 4.5 million passengers a day and is the second busiest network in Europe, after Moscow.

Other benefits for passengers on the new trains will include air conditioning and screens with live travel information.

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PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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