 We're finally doing it. Today's video will work to explain what is in my opinion potentially the world's greatest metro system, the Paris Metro, which has inspired rapid transit systems the world over, and is among the most unique urban transportation systems out there in its own right. The system already has 14 different primary lines, with 4 more under construction, and moves more than a billion and a half passengers every single year, including through one of the largest metro stations in the world. So let's set out and learn about the incredible Paris Metro. This video could not be complete without a huge thank you to Louis and Julian from Paris, who helped with clips for the video as well as with information for it. If you're interested in helping with future videos about your city and any place around the world, make sure to follow me on Twitter for updates and consider supporting the channel on Patreon. Oh, and don't forget to check out my other explainers on cities like London and Madrid. Paris is complicated, and so to start this video out, let's try to get situated with the urban context. Paris has several urban transportation systems, and I eventually hope to have explainers for every single one, including the incredible RER network, which provides massive capacity by running large express mainline trains through the city in massive new tunnels, akin to another project we recently visited. A good starting point for a little tour around Paris is to distinguish the central areas of the city within the periphery Gring Road and those outside of it. We also have the Seine, which cuts across the French capital in an arching shape. In the northwestern quadrant of the city, at the end of the Champs-Élysées, we have the Arc de Triomphe, and in the west of the centre, just to the south, we have the Champ des Marres and the Eiffel Tower. To the east, roughly near the city's geographic centre, we have the famous Louvre Museum. If you follow the city's northwest axis towards the Arc de Triomphe, you reach the famous Place de la Concorde, and beyond the arc, you eventually arrive at the city's modern business district, La Défense, akin to London's Canary Wharf. Beginning to look at the city's transportation hubs, starting with the airports, which include Orly to the south, which is currently served by tram T7 and connected to the RER via a people mover, Paris' much larger international hub airport, Charles de Gaulle, is to the north of the city, and is directly served by the RER as well as high-speed trains. Moving into the city itself, Paris has six major intercity rail stations. These include Guerre de Nord, in the northeast of the core, which serves Eurostar and Tallis services to the UK and Belgium, as well as the Netherlands, alongside trains to other parts of France and Western Europe. Guerre de l'Este is only a few hundred metres away from Guerre de Nord, and serves trains to Eastern France as well as other points east such as in Germany and beyond. Guerre Saint-Lizar is a smaller station closest to the geographic centre of the city, which serves a large number of commuter services as well as the historical business district and trains to the north-west of the country. Guerre de Lyon is in the southeast of the city, near the Seine, and serves destinations like Lyon, go figure, as well as other destinations in the south of France, the Greater Mediterranean, as well as places like Italy and Spain. To the west we have Guerre Montparnasse, which serves trains to the west of France, and is quite famous for its much-disliked adjacent tower and its less-than-impressive finishings. The last major station we have is Guerre d'Osterlitz, which is the destination for trains from central France as well as night trains, and is located directly across the Seine from Guerre de Lyon. A station of a different type worth mentioning is Châtelet Léon, which serves a number of RER and metro lines forming one of the largest rapid transit interchange stations in the entire world. Now, connecting these various and famous destinations are a web of metro lines, so let's talk about them. I've divided the lines into two groups based on whether they use the iconic rubber-tired trains, transit enthusiasts typically associate with the Paris Metro, or more standard steel wheeled units, which actually run on the majority of lines. Let's start with the steel wheeled lines, which, as I said, make up the majority both by raw number and track kilometers. Line 2 has 25 stops over about 12 kilometers of track, forming a northern arc in central Paris, beginning in the northwest and ending in the east. The line serves major destinations like the Arc de Triomphe, and the line runs elevated along Boulevard de la Chappelle, as it passes just north of Guerre de Nord and Guerre de l'Est. Line 3 also serves 25 stops, but over just less than 12 kilometers of track, which are fully underground, making it the densest main line of the system in terms of stops. Line 3 starts at the northwest edge of the central city beyond the Peripherique, and near the Seine, and cuts across the city east-west north of the Seine in the city center to just east of the Peripherique. The line also connects to Guerre Saint-Lizar. Line 5 features 22 stops over a roughly 15 kilometer route north-south on the east side of the city, which sees it run from the southeast of the city north, connecting with Guerre d'Austerlitz, which it runs elevated through before crossing the Seine on a bridge and diving back below ground. The line then continues north to serve Guerre de L'Est and Guerre de Nord before sweeping east, traveling beyond the Peripherique to the east north of Line 3. Line 7 is tied with Line 8 for having the most stops for a line on the system with 38 stops over just 22 kilometers of fully underground track, running from south of the Peripherique with two branches, rather uncommon on this system, to the northeast of the city. The southernmost portion of the line is formed by those two parallel branches, which come together just north of the Peripherique. From here, the line runs north and then turns east across the Seine underground. The line then continues along the Seine to connect to the southern end of Châtelet-Léon, as well as provide service to the famous Louvre Museum. The line then arcs back towards the east to serve Guerre de L'Est and continues straight northeast to a terminus beyond the Peripherique. Line 8 has 38 stops over 23 kilometers of track, running from far south of the Peripherique to the west of the city in an arc. The southernmost portion of the line is above ground, and part of it even runs in the center of an access-controlled highway. South of the center, the line also crosses the Marne, a tributary of the Seine on a bridge. The line then runs through the center, paralleling Line 9 for part of its route before crossing under the Seine to the west near Place de la Concorde. The line then runs between Champ de Mars and the military school before terminating near the Peripherique in the southwest. Line 9 has the second most stops on the entire Paris Metro, with 37 over a little less than 20 kilometers. The line runs fully underground east-west across the city from east of the Peripherique to the southwest near the Seine. Around the middle of the route, the line connects with Guerre Saint-Lazare. The shared entrances with Line 8 serve a dense recreational district, where entry points are often as little as 50 meters apart. Line 10 has 11.5 kilometers of track with 23 stops. The line cuts across the south of the city east-west and is entirely underground. Very uniquely for a rapid transit line, there is a section of the western portion of Line 10, where there is a split, and a couple of stations only offer travel in a single direction. The line terminates in the east at Guerre d'Auster Leeds. Line 10 also has the least advanced signalling on the entire system. Now Line 12 is fully underground, and features 29 stations on 17 kilometers of track, and is the most recently extended line on the system, with the extension to Marie-Daubevilliers opening in May 2022. Line 12 runs north-south through the west-central parts of the city, with connections to Saint-Lazare as well as Guerre Montparnasse. Line 12 notably has some very tight corners which can potentially pose safety hazards with overspeed trains, such as to the north of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and south of Marx-Dormois. Line 13 is currently the longest line on the Paris Metro at about 24.5 kilometers long, and with 32 stations. Line 13 parallels Line 12 for much of its route, running north-south through the west of the city, where it connects with Guerre Montparnasse. Unlike Line 12, Line 13 extends further north and west, with two branches at its north beyond the connection with Guerre Saint-Lazare. The eastern branch runs beyond the Peripherique and near the Stade de France, while the western branch crosses the Peripherique as well as the Seine on a bridge. Line 13 was actually built, as with other later metro lines, to augment the RER network, and provide similar services, in this case connecting Montparnasse and Saint-Lazare more rapidly than Line 12. The next group of lines are the iconic rubber tire-running lines, which are actually in the minority. Line 1 of the Paris Metro is the quintessential line of the system. It's the most heavily used, it's tied for the oldest with Line 2, and unlike Line 2, it has rubber tires. The line serves 25 stops over 69.5 kilometers of track, running from the southeast to the northwest. The line begins southeast of the Peripherique, and runs straight northwest before diverging west at Place de la Nationne to connect to Guerre de Lyon, where the line makes another turn to head north to Place de la Bastille, where it once again turns west, continuing parallel to the Seine and serving Châtelet-Léon. Continuing northwest, the line also serves the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, before running directly under the Champs-Élysées. Reaching the Arc de Triomphe, the line diverts around it under the Roundabout, before continuing northwest, passing the Peripherique, and then popping above ground just before the Seine to cross into La Défense above ground, where it dives back below the surface and terminates. Line 4 is the second most heavily used line on the Paris Metro, and like Line 12 was extended in 2022 with the addition of two new Southern stations, bringing the line to 29 stations on its 14km fully underground route, which runs north-south, connecting Guerre de Nord, Guerre de l'Est, Châtelet-Léon, and Guerre Montparnasse. Line 4 is perhaps most notable for its excellent connectivity, linking it to every other Paris Metro line, as well as all of those very important stations. Line 6 is 13.5km long with 28 stops, forming a loop around central Paris alongside Line 2, Line 6 being the southern half of the circle. The line serves Guerre Montparnasse and has a number of elevated sections, including twice passing over the Seine and once past the Eiffel Tower above the streets below, before terminating at the Arc de Triomphe. Line 11 is the shortest main line on the system, at just over 6km in length, but still manages to pack in 13 stations. Line 11 starts from Châtelet-Léon in the center and continues eastward as a cord, running past Centre Pompidot and the famous structural expressionist building, and eventually ending just east of the Peripherique. Line 14 is the newest line on the Paris Metro, and exists as an express connector line. It's fully underground and runs 14km with just 13 stations, roughly double the standard stations basing on the metro system, and very reminiscent to London's Victoria line. The line's also fully underground and runs from the northwest to the southeast. Paralleling Line 1 is what was the intensely used Line A of the RER, and as such it was designed as an express relief line for both. The line connects to Guérot-Léon, Châtelet-Léon, and Guérissant-Lésar. Now, as it turns out, beyond the 14 main lines, there are also two smaller BIS lines which you might have heard of, sort of like shuttle lines seen in other cities with small trains and few stations, but a little bit longer. Line 3 BIS has the shortest trains on the network, with three small cars on every train. The line is only a little over a kilometer long and still has four stations, connecting between Line 3 and Line 11. Line 3 BIS is entirely underground. The line's existence is thanks to a historic rerouting of Line 3, and thus its infrastructure is more substantial than it needs to be for the role it plays today. There is also Line 7 BIS, which is a little longer than 3 BIS at roughly 3km with 8 stations. The line originally operated as a branch as part of Line 7. Somewhat like on the western portion of Line 10, the eastern portion of Line 7 BIS is one directional, operating as a loop. As it turns out, there are connecting tracks between Line 3 BIS and 7 BIS, and they were actually used in part to test rubber tire trains as well as advanced signalling systems. Using these tracks to combine the two lines into one has frequently come up, and will probably eventually happen. So the Paris Metro is very extensive already, but as it turns out, it's also getting what is likely Europe's largest metro expansion in the form of the dramatic Grand Paris Express project, which at one point will have used over 20 different tunnel boring machines. These plans include a number of expansions to various lines, as well as four major new lines. At the center of these expansion plans is the new Line 15. This project is being built in phases, and when complete will form a 75km underground loop around the city, likely making it the world's longest underground metro line. The southern phase is the first part of the project, which will later be followed by independent east and west projects to close the loop, which yes isn't actually a loop, though the track layout will allow every other train to operate in a circular pattern, with trains alternating between the circle and the eastern branch. As designed, Line 15 will intersect with most Paris Metro lines and all of the RER lines, allowing riders to get around the city without going through the congested city center. Now in order to connect with Line 15, the Grand Paris Express project contains one main extension of existing Line 14. Another extension will extend Line 11 further east with four new stations over 10km of track, enabling an interchange with Line 15 and the RER, while Line 14 is planned to be extended 7 stations south on 14km of track to interchange with Line 15, a future Line 18, and connect to Orly Airport. The Grand Paris Express will also introduce more new lines. Line 16 and 17 will both start at Saint-Denis-Pleyel, arguably the most important station on the Grand Paris Express, with service to the nearby Stade de France and Olympic Sites for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Connections to the nearby Line 13 and RER, and with lines 15, 16, 17, and 14 all connecting at one station. Line 14 will be extended one stop north to reach it. From here, Line 16 and 17 will run to the northeast inter-lined until Le Bourget RER station, where the lines will split, with Line 17 running to the northeast and eventually to Chal de Gaulle Airport, finally connecting it to the Metro network. Line 16 will run to the southeast, connecting with Line 15 and the RER. Both lines are set to be opened in phases. Interestingly, all three of these new Grand Paris Express lines will use the same rolling stock, which is very similar to the de facto standard Alstom Metropolis train we're seeing on the REM, Sydney Metro, and other systems, albeit with an Île de France mobility, livery, and interior design. The trains will be 2.8 meters wide and will be composed of 18 meter carriages. Trains will run off overhead wire power and will be fully automated and will run it up to 110 kilometers per hour, making those circumferential trips on Line 15 particularly attractive. The high speeds definitely earn the Grand Paris Express the Express name, as average travel speeds will be comparable to the RER. Line 15 will have some of the highest capacity trains on the entire Paris Metro, with walk-through sets composed of six carriages, while Line 16 and 17 will have sets composed of three carriages. Part of the plans for the Grand Paris Express also included Line 18, which would run from Orly Airport west of Versailles, and would feature a later extension to the north, forming a western arc through the suburbs, mirroring Line 16. The first phase of Line 18 is set to be delivered in 2026, and will have smaller three-car automated trains, which in many ways sound similar to what's planned for Singapore's Jurong Region MRT line. These smaller trains reflect the very low densities around parts of the Line 18 route, and the lower projected passenger numbers of the Line. Of course, along with the various other Grand Paris Express lines, there are a lot of regular metro stations which are being enhanced to connect to the new facilities. Now, as you might imagine, being so old and having so many lines and so much history in such a storied city, the Paris Metro has a ton of interesting and unique features, and I think this is my favorite part of most explained videos, because it inverts the expectations you so often have about transit systems, historic or not. One of the things that I find surprising people the most is learning how much of the Paris Metro is elevated, especially historic sections of Line 6 and 2, through central areas of the city. The story here is less that elevation is never controversial, as I'm sure it was when these sections were first built, and likely still is. More of the point worth making is that I think elevated running could fit into a beautiful and historic urban area perfectly well. The system is also somewhat unique in having several urban mega hubs, including Châtelet Léal, which you can traverse by foot or even by rail, and that's so big that it's divided into separate sectors of interchanges that act almost like their own independent stations within a station. There's also the less-appreciated Opera Saint-Lézard complex, which is connected underground, and taken as a whole is the second busiest station on the whole system. There are also smaller but notable hubs like République and Nashant, which probably benefited a lot from the fact that the Paris Metro just has a lot of lines, and often has them bouncing off of each other rather than crossing to provide interchanges, which you can see at Nashant and République. One thing that needs to be mentioned is that the Paris Metro is incredibly dense. It stops her generally just about half a kilometer apart on average, meaning less than a 10 minute walk. This is rather unique, and means that while coverage is great, speeds are not. That said, newer portions of the network, like Line 14 and newer extensions, as well as those in outlying areas, tend to have wider stop spacings. Speaking of Line 14, unlike Toronto, New York, London, and Berlin, Paris has core metro lines, which are driverless. Line 14 also offers some of the highest scheduled service for a major metro line in the world, with some departures set less than 90 seconds apart, as well as platform screen doors at all stations. The success of automation on Line 14 actually led to the Paris Metro operator, the RATP, retrofitting automation on other lines. The busiest line, Line 1, was automated in the 2000s, with trains initially running mixed in with human operated trains, and then eventually being deployed as all trains in service. The line's historic stations were even retrofitted with platform screen doors, and as it turns out, similar works are going on on Line 4 right now, which is the system's next busiest line, and should be complete in the next year. If you're wondering, Line 13 also has a number of stations with platform gates. One element that many people aren't familiar with is that the rubber tires were actually retrofitted into the historic lines of the Paris Metro, with trains initially running as a mixture between sets with and without the additional tires. This is different from cities like Montreal, Santiago, and Mexico City, as well as lines like Line 14, where rubber-tired trains were used from the outset. Of course, not every element of the Paris Metro is perfect. The system is one of the least accessible major metros out there, and with so many old stations, retrofits are not always very fast. That said, major expansions to the network are of course accessible, so retrofits are the main thing that needs focus. As a famous metro system, the Paris Metro has a number of iconic designs, ranging from its well-known steel entrance gateway, which have been sent to other cities like Montreal and Mexico City, to the excellent wayfinding which is clean and efficient. I'd even say the beautiful blue and white liveries now being used across the Île de France are likely to be a future favorite, though I know there are some mixed opinions on them these days, alongside the thoughtful and feature-packed interiors which take the comfortable seating layout seen in Europe and the helpful technology seen in Asia and combine them. Another iconic feature of the Paris Metro are the small arched side platform stations which make up the majority on the system, and were the sort of default historic station design. These stations were perfect for accommodating the short and narrow, roughly 2.5 meter wide trains which run on the whole of the network, once again showing you that you don't need giant trains to move huge amounts of people. Of course, while many stations in the system are standardized, the unidirectional stations of line 10, most notably Mirabeau, are quite unusual. At the same time, some of the rolling stock on the system still has manually operated doors, where you need to lift a knob to open them. This is quite unique. Another thing that makes the Paris Metro unlike other systems we talk about is that it doesn't have divisions of larger and smaller trains, though you might argue this is changing with the Grand Paris Express. While the trains are split between rubber tire and steel wheel, as mentioned before, this was originally done via retrofit, and the loading gauge on the trains is the same. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the Paris Metro, and the one I find the most fascinating are the crazy number of connecting tunnels, unusual station layouts, and even relatively frequent turning loops seen around the system, which are used less today than in the past but are still used. These are all features that didn't end up taking off in the world of metros, but make the Paris Metro distinctly its own, and that's what I love about it. As always, thanks for watching the video, thanks to everyone who helped make this possible, and I'll see you in the next one.