Inauguration of the RER E: Gabriel Attal salutes a project symbolizing “solution ecology”

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal inaugurated on Friday May 3 the extension of the RER E towards the west of Paris from the new La Défense station, an infrastructure according to him symbolizing "the ecology that we want, not that of injunction and of guilt, but that of solutions".

The extension of the RER E between Saint-Lazare station and Nanterre-La Folie, with two new monumental stations at Porte Maillot and La Défense, is a project more than ten years old, work on which began in 2017.

It should allow residents of the east of Ile-de-France to directly reach the La Défense business district, to the west of the capital, in addition to the RER A. In the long term, the Eole project ( Est Ouest Liaison Express) must reach Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) in December 2026.

The service which will open for travelers on Monday will only be partial until the end of the year, open only during off-peak hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m. on weekdays and until 20:00 p.m. on weekends, due to the need for running-in of the new equipment delivered by Alstom - the RER NG, of which only 14 out of 34 trains are deployed.

The extended line E must then transport 650.000 passengers per day compared to 370.000 currently, according to SNCF.

Gabriel Attal, who since his arrival at Matignon has rarely addressed questions of ecology or mobility, took advantage of this inauguration to outline his vision on these subjects.

“Thanks to Eole, by making La Défense and Paris more accessible, there are tens of thousands of car journeys, therefore fewer greenhouse gas emissions,” greeted Gabriel Attal in the presence of the Minister for Transport Patrice Vergriete and the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera.

“These are also fuel savings for the French because transport is more economical than the car and must be,” he added.

It is a project of “popular ecology”, insisted the head of government, “not that of the brutal ban which restricts the French and their activity”.

“I am in contact with French people in medium-sized towns, in rural areas. They all know it, they all tell me, for them the car is freedom, it is the assurance of having a job and autonomy” , he developed.

But public transport should not be reserved for residents of large metropolises or Paris. They “must enter all territories” including the metropolitan RERs (officially called “Metropolitan Regional Express Services”, or SERM).

“We want to enable our fellow citizens throughout France to achieve these time savings, these precious life gains,” declared Gabriel Attal.