Metro line 11 is preparing to irrigate the east of Paris

Twice as long and twice as busy: the extension of line 11 of the Paris metro, with six new stations to the east of the capital served from June 13, will be the most important inauguration for the RATP in over 25 years old.

Currently the least busy in the network with 100.000 passengers per day, this line will increase to 190.000 passengers per day, assured Tuesday the director of the project, Pierre Florent, during a visit to the extension organized for the press.

Atypical because it has a terminus in Châtelet, in the heart of Paris, line 11 will go to Rosny-sous-Bois, to the east of the capital, serving several municipalities in Seine-Saint-Denis along the way ( Les Lilas, Romainville, Noisy-le-Sec and Montreuil).

Special feature of this extension: the construction of a one-kilometer viaduct and an aerial station in Rosny-sous-Bois (Côteaux Beauclair), a first for the RATP since 1905.

6 km long, this extension to the east cost 1,3 billion euros, according to Pierre Florent. The work, which began in 2016, lasted eight years for what is one of the RATP's two largest current projects, with the extension of line 14 (inaugurated on June 24).

“It’s a revolution, with four new municipalities crossed in Ile-de-France,” greeted the director of line 11, Guillaume Karakouzian. Travelers will be able to “go from Rosny to Châtelet in 25 minutes instead of 55 minutes currently”, he added.

Among the 13 existing stations on the line, ten have benefited from an in-depth renovation with the construction of additional exits in order to absorb the flow of new passengers brought by the extension.

The organizing authority for Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), for its part, has renewed all of the metro trains on the line. The latest MP59s, around sixty years old, the oldest rolling stock in the Paris region, have just completed their last laps.

They were gradually replaced by 32 new trainsets - 39 before the end of the year - of greater capacity, consuming less energy, which should allow an interval of 1 minute and 45 seconds between each metro during rush hour at instead of 2 minutes 05 currently. The purchase of these new trainsets from Alstom cost IDFM 380 million euros.

Line 11 of the metro, inaugurated in 1935, was the last project of the famous engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe, who died in 1936. But this extension is only a stage, according to Delphine Bürkli, mayor of the 9th arrondissement of Paris and IDFM administrator .

“Studies for an extension to Noisy-Champs – future station of line 15 – will be launched at the end of 2024, beginning of 2025,” she announced.