Every day, over 4 million Parisians travel on the RATP metro network. This insane figure shows just how central public transport is to the daily lives of everyone living in the capital. For more than 100 years, the metro has been part of our daily routine and our daily strolls through the city, but do you really know this veritable part of Parisian heritage? In a few figures, some astronomical, some simply unusual, we’ll tell you a little more about this emblem of Paris!
306
With 16 lines criss-crossing the city, the metro currently boasts 306 stations. This number has recently been increased, with the inauguration of Barbara and Lucie Aubrac stations in Bagneux on line 4. This total is likely to grow further, with the inauguration of lines 15, 16, 17 and 18 expected in the next few years.
300 million
This is the number of passengers using the Paris metro between January 1 and today (March 14, 2022). In a year excluding Covid, this figure rises to an average of 1.5 billion users, making the Paris metro the seventh busiest in the world.
Paris’s longest line
At 24.3 kilometers, line 8 is officially the longest in Paris. By contrast, line 7 bis, at 1.3 kilometers, is the shortest.
60 trains per hour
Often criticized, line 7 is nevertheless the best-equipped in terms of train capacity. At peak times, it can run up to 60 trains an hour!
36 meters deep and 176 steps
Just writing these few words makes us shudder. With its 36-metre depth and 176 steps, you’re sure to recognize Abbesses station as a real challenge for non-athletes. Beware of elevator failure!
The slowest line
We’d have bet everything with our eyes closed on line 10, and yet… With an average speed of 21.6 km/h, line 4, with its winding route, is the slowest line on the Paris metro.
24,3
Quite simply, this is the length in kilometers of line 8, the longest in the network before the rollout of the Grand Paris Express.
The world’s first underground station
Châtelet-les-Halles station, a hub in the heart of the city, sees an average of 550,000 passengers and 1,500 trains a day, making it the world’s first underground station.
45,7°
Commuters took thermometers today on the RER D and are sharing the photos on Facebook pic.twitter.com/aEFxuiuhzJ
– Julien Paniac (@JulienPaniac) June 26, 2019
We know that the temperature is sometimes difficult to bear during hot spells on the entire network, and more particularly in the trains on lines 4, 6 and 13. But RER D takes the cake! 45.7°: that’s the unit recorded by users on line D on a hot day in June 2019.
Bonus
100%: that’s the percentage of Parisians who have at least once pouted in the Paris metro.