Paris Métro Line 3bis
Line 3bis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | 750 V DC third rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conduction system | Conductor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average inter-station distance | 433 m (1,421 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paris Métro Line 3bis (
The line was constructed during the 1910s as an extension to
History
Chronology
- 27 November 1921 – The section from , are opened.
- 3 September 1939 – The shuttle service is closed.
- 27 March 1971 – The Gambetta to Porte des Lilas section is disconnected from Line 3 and designated Line 3bis.
Metro Line 3
On 13 March 1903 the
Expansion of Line 3
On 14 June 1901 the Council of Paris announced its wish for a study regarding the construction of a network to complement the first lines; the goal was to leave no point in the city more than 400 metres (0.25 mi) away from a métro station. The
A second loan of 179 million francs for the work was approved on 26 June 1903. On 28 December 1905, the Council of Paris awarded the expansion project to the CMP. The decision was formalized on 23 December 1907. Eventually, a third loan of 40 million francs was authorized on 10 April 1908, but this was not granted until April 1910 due to the associated déclaration d'utilité publique, a process required in France to demonstrate the public benefits of a proposed project.[3]
The planned extension, which would connect to
The work was nearly finished before the start of World War I, during which it ground to a halt. The project was returned to the CMP on 23 February 1920, but work did not resume immediately; the CMP waited for the city to provide the necessary funds that had been granted in the new 1920 convention. The final work was completed in December 1920. Although originally planned, the plan for trains on line 7 to continue to Porte des Lilas was eventually abandoned, as trains on line 3 provided an adequate service on this branch (at the time, as
The shuttle ceased operation on 3 September 1939 as part of the World War II service cutbacks.[5]
Creation of Line 3 bis
During the 1960s, the public complained that public transport was inadequate in the
To accommodate these changes, Gambetta, which at the time consisted of only two half-stations[clarification needed], underwent major alteration. The southern half-station was demolished and the northern half-station was renovated to become the terminus of the new line 3bis, with two tracks on either side of a central platform. New tracks were constructed for line 3, and the station Martin Nadaud, which was only 235 metres (771 ft) from the old stations (under the square of the same name), was closed. The new platforms are on the site of this old station, in the direction of Pont de Levallois; this explains the longer-than-normal platforms at Gambetta.
Gambetta was opened on 23 August 1969, but line 3 bis did not open until 27 March 1971.[6] The expansion to Bagnolet was opened on 2 April 1971. In 1970, line 3 bis was linked to a poste de commande centralisé (PCC), or central command post, along with line 3. Despite this, line 3 bis has not been equipped with driverless cars, as the small amount of traffic on the line did not justify the installation of such a system.[7]
Route and stations
Route
Line 3bis is entirely underground. It has a total length of 1.289 kilometres (0.801 mi). With only four stations, the average distance between stations is 433 metres (1,421 ft).
The line begins at the
List of stations
Until 2009, line 3bis and line 7bis were the only lines to not have been equipped with SIEL , a system that provides the waiting time until the arrival of the next two trains. At the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, the two bis lines were equipped with this system; on these lines, however, the system provides only the waiting time for the next incoming train (as opposed to the times for the next two incoming trains, or four in the case of lines 7 and 13 in the direction of the branch). The installation of this system in the two bis lines completed the system's deployment along Paris' transportation network.[8]
Line 3bis contains the following stations, beginning with its southern terminus (connections with other lines are indicated by the presence of the connecting line's number):
Station | Arrondissements | Connections[9] |
---|---|---|
Gambetta | 20th | |
Pelleport | 20th | |
Saint-Fargeau | 20th | |
Porte des Lilas | 19th, 20th |
(Stations in bold serve as the departure or terminus of the line)
Themed or otherwise unique stations
The stations on the line contain platforms measuring 75 metres (246 ft) in length, accessible by trains containing up to five cars. The line was constructed at a considerable depth below the surface, with the platforms at
Taking into consideration criticism of stations along other lines that required passengers to first descend to an area where tickets could be purchased, and then further descend to the platforms, Plumet designed the stations such that the elevators are accessible directly from the surface. The three stations are made of reinforced concrete and ciment de Grenoble; they are decorated with ceramics made by Gentil & Bourdet. The contractors of the station were Pinton and Nion Lacroix.[11]
Connections
The line contains two connections with the rest of the network:[12]
- with Porte des Lilas;
- with Gambetta.
The latter connection consists of the original two tracks that were originally intended to connect lines 3 and 7.
In the direction of lines 3 towards line 7, the tunnel "
In the opposite direction, the tunnel "
These two sets of tracks reunite in Porte des Lilas, and are often used for filming movies.
Service depots
The rolling stock of line 3bis is kept along with that of line 3 at the depot at Saint-Fargeau, accessible at Gambetta station.
Repairs and regular maintenance (e.g. of batteries, electrical wiring, and paint) are carried out at the depot at Choisy, along with the rest of the Paris rail network. Opened in 1931, it is situated in the
Operation
Service
In 2010, a complete trip along the line took only four minutes. As on the principal lines on the métro network, the first departures are at about 5:30 am (5:27 am from Porte des Lilas and 5:32 am from Gambetta); the last departures are at 1:04 am from Porte des Lilas and at 1:11 am from Gambetta, except on Friday and Saturday nights and holidays. Despite the light traffic on the line, the service interval is short: on average 3 to 5 minutes during the day and 8 to 9 minutes late at night; 6 to 8 minutes on Sunday mornings and about 10 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights (after 1:15 am) and holidays (after 12:30 am).[13]
Rolling stock
Until 1971, the rolling stock on line 3bis was the same as on line 3.[6] Between 1972 and July 1981, the Sprague-Thomson variant was used, but this was then replaced with MF 67trains of only three cars (because of the low passenger volumes), which still run on the line today. These trains are identical to those on line 9, except that the 3bis trains do not have strapontins (fold-down seats).
Employees
Employees on the network are divided into two categories: station agents and conductors. Station agents are responsible for selling tickets, ensuring that passengers have not entered the métro illegally (i.e. preventing fare evasion), managing the stations, and ensuring the proper installation of instructional signs and other fixtures according to service needs. Some agents are at times relieved from their normal duties so that they can operate the ticket booth. Conductors, on the other hand, ensure the proper operation of the trains. Service is broken down into three shifts: day, mixed, and night.[14]
Fares and financing
Fares are identical to those on the rest of the metropolitan network; the line is accessible by the same transit subscriptions. A ticket t+ allows for a one-way trip on the line, regardless of the number of connections made with other métro lines or the RER (so long as the RER is taken only within the city of Paris, meaning Paris intra-muros).
The financing of the operation of the line is guaranteed by the RATP. Fares and subscription prices are regulated by the government and in fact their revenues do not cover the entire operating costs of the network. The difference is made up with funding provided by Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), presided over since 2005 by the President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France and governed by locally elected officials. The organisation defines the general conditions of operation including the duration and frequency of services. The operational budget is guaranteed by an annual subsidy provided to the general transportation network of the region; this subsidy is funded by a tax (the versement transport (VT), which is imposed on all companies in the region that employ more than nine people, as well as other public funds.
Traffic
The traffic along line 3bis is included with the statistics of line 3, which are presented below:[15]
Year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995[16] | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Passengers(in millions)[17] | 88.1 | 87.1 | 87.2 | 76.3 | 83.3 | 84.5 | 85.3 | 87.6 | 93.2 | 95.9 | 94.2 | 90.6 | 87.6 |
Projects
The proposed
Tourism
Line 3bis serves only four stations in the 20th arrondissement of Paris and does not serve any areas frequented by tourists; thus the line is little-known except to locals. The line's almost bizarre atmosphere[clarification needed] (similar to that of line 7bis) is a great contrast to the popular lines 1, 4, and 13: the trains carry few passengers and the stations are nearly deserted.
See also
References
Bibliography
- Robert, Jean (1983). Notre Métro (in French). Paris: Jean Robert.
- Le patrimoine de la RATP (in French). Flohic. 1996. ISBN 2-84234-007-8.
- Tricoire, Jean. Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes. De Bienvenüe à Météor (in French). la Vie du Rail. ISBN 2-902808-87-9.
- Lamming, Clive. Métro insolite (in French).
- Jacobs, Gaston (2001). Le métro de Paris : un sièce de matériel roulant (in French). ISBN 2-902808-97-6.
- Guerrand, Roger-Henri (1999). L'aventure du métropolitain (in French). Paris: La découverte.
- Gasnault, François; Zuber, Henri (1997). Métro-Cité : le chemin de fer métropolitain à la conquête de Paris, 1871–1945 (in French). Paris: les musées de la ville de Paris. ISBN 2-87900-374-1.
Notes and references
- ^ Jean Robert, Notre métro, p. 55
- ^ Jean Robert, op. cit., p. 83
- ^ Jean Robert, op. cit., pp. 80–83
- ^ Jean Robert, op. cit., pp. 104–105
- ^ Jean Robert, op. cit., p. 135
- ^ a b Jean Robert,op. cit., p. 162
- ^ Jean Robert,op. cit., p. 166
- ^ Le Métropole -SIEL tombe sur les lignes bis Archived 4 August 2012 at archive.today, 31 March 2010
- ^ In order to simplify the table, only connections with rail transport (subways, trains, trams, etc.) and connections that are tightly connected with the line are displayed. Other connections (notably bus lines) are given in each station's article.
- ^ Jean Tricoire, Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes. De Bienvenüe à Météor, 1999 ed., p. 167
- ^ H.-M. Magne, Les nouvelles gares du métropolitain, Art et Décoration, 1922
- ^ Detailed map of the Paris Metro, Line 3bis
- ^ "Official Site of the RATP – Timetables for line 3bis, accessed 22 January 2010". Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- ^ Internal RATP source
- ^ Traffic Statistics: "2005 STIF Statistics, Mass Transit in Numbers, page 16". Archived from the original on 17 April 2010.
- ^ Effect of the 1995 strikes in France
- ^ Total utilization, direct entries and RER connections. Statistics include passengers on both lines 3 and 3bis.
External links
- (in French) RATP official website
- (in English) RATP english speaking website
- (in English) Interactive Map of the RER (from RATP's website)
- (in English) Interactive Map of the Paris métro (from RATP's website)
- (in French) Mobidf website, dedicated to the RER (unofficial)[permanent dead link]
- (in French) Metro-Pole website, dedicated to Paris public transports (unofficial)