Vive La Difference (Numero Trois)

Wot, no April Fool's gag? Couldn't think of one. The industry is such a joke at the moment, it hardly seems fair to add to the chaos!

Propositions et Practicite de Prolongemernt

Paris Metro line 1 (M1) ran, as we have seen before, from the boundary at the old city walls and Gates; that was Porte Maillot in the west ...

... continuing to the east (ish!) ...

... to Porte de Vincennes. An extract from the Wikipedia timeline shows how quickly the line was built.

Just under two years to be fully open. Eat your heart out, Crossrail!

A couple of short extensions were added, to Chateau de Vincennes in the east ...

... and Pont de Neuilly in the west. The big push came in 1992 with the extension westwards to the growing business district of La Defence.

In 1963 the line was converted to rubber tyred operation, creating one of the strangest railway "noises" in the world - just a sort of rubberised hiss!

Between May and December 2012 the line was converted to fully automatic driver-less operation complete with platform edge doors. This change took place whilst normal service continued unaltered, except for a very few short-term closures.

All of line 1 is fun to ride in the front driverless seats, but the best bit, albeit short-lived, is the corners at Bastille station.

Look at the overhang ...

... almost as bad as fbb's model railway!

Anyway, the plans for the extension have been laid before the public at an enquiry ...

... which has now closed.

But these "consultations" rarely bring any significant changes. Generally speaking, Parisians respect their Metro and welcome a new piece of line with enthusiasm. The Line 1 "prolongement" will be all underground, so it is only the surface entrances which might possibly cause some "discord".

Here is the plan.

The detailed sector map (oh, the joy of these multi modal cartographic delights!) shows the first section ...

From the existing eastern terminus (bottom left) , the line will snake north to serve two stops, Les Rigollots and Grands Pechers (top right).

Les Rigollots is a road junction with a central "artistic" cone ...

... where the station building will replace a block of poor quality shops.

This would provide a major improvement for the area.

At Grands Pechers, the station will sit in the middle of nowhere in particular, partially on open land and (possibly?) with some demolition of low grade buildings ...

... again representing a very definite upgrade to the area.

The Metro designers seem to be into glazing in a big way!

The new M1 will then veer back south to a major interchange at Val de Fontenay.

Here we have a branch of RER line A, part of RER line E and outer suburban service P. But there is a snag. Where you might want to build a new interchange with M1 is a shiny new factory cum warehouse.

So the Metro terminus will be on the east of the tracks under Sotech International inter alia ...

... with links to the RER platforms, of course.

The current arrangements for the RER etc include a rather splendid bus station (of course, you would expect nothing less) on the west side of the tracks ...

... leading to a very miserable entrance building to gain access to the platforms via a lengthy subway under a clutch of busy roads.

You would expect something better; which may come with the arrival of M1.

Of course, as yet, no one has so much as got out a shovel, but, as we shall see in due course, the M1 extension is part of a much bigger plan, so the chances are that it will all happen over the next twenty years or so.

It seems unlikely that fbb will be reporting on the consummation of the plan in 2040!

Pity - but a better place awaits, better even than fbb mansions in Seaton, Devon.

 Next Weekend Variety blog : Saturday 2nd April