Olympic Games Paris metro stands up to the test
The metros, which are otherwise often overcrowded and plagued by breakdowns in everyday life, are standing up to the test of millions of sports fans. Operations have been running smoothly so far and the transportation plan has been adhered to, according to the city's transport operator RATP.
07.08.2024, 05:09
SDA
This has been possible thanks to months of preparation for the Olympic Games, flexibility and the deployment of additional trains when needed.
"It's going well so far. We are managing to transport all spectators in good conditions," said the head of the Paris public transport network, Laurent Probst, as reported by the newspaper "Nouvel Obs".
Streams of spectators will be distributed over various lines and more than 5,000 helpers will be on duty in the stations especially for the Olympic Games to show the public the way. The timetable for suburban trains and metros has been increased by around 15 percent and additional buses will be running to certain competition venues.
Guests give local transport good marks
The majority of visitors to the Olympic Games and commuters give good marks to local transport at the moment. This was the result of an Ipsos survey commissioned by the state railroad SNCF, which operates the commuter rail system in the greater Paris area. The connections are easy (97 percent), the feeling of safety is good (98 percent) and the waiting time for the next train is acceptable (95 percent). For the survey, there are daily interviews in the stations in three languages.
The number of daily passengers in the greater Paris area is seven million compared to 6.6 million during a normal summer, reported France 3. In the run-up to the Games, a large-scale campaign was launched to encourage Parisians to work from home or to commute to work on foot or by bike. Companies were encouraged to relocate to other sites outside of Paris. As RATP boss Jean Castex told the broadcaster, there are indeed slightly fewer Parisians than usual on the trains.
Traffic collapse feared
In the run-up to the Games, the metro was seen as the big problem child, with fears of a gridlock. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, had pointed out that it was already not possible to achieve the necessary level of punctuality and comfort in everyday traffic. And RATP boss Castex had spoken of an outdated network in which eight out of ten lines were no longer able to offer a high-quality service. But even though some of the lines are decades old, the trains now run in close succession to avoid crowding.
Thanks to the massive police presence on platforms and on the trains themselves, a group of passengers that everyone would actually like to do without - pickpockets - are also making themselves scarce on the metros at the moment. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin reported significantly fewer crimes on local transport.
