fbb, The Magenta Presenter! (3)

Yellow, Red, Green, Magenta

We need, perhaps, to create some context as we continue to explore Porte Maillot and the extension of RER line E. So it was that the second chunk of rail infrastructure reached Porte Maillot in 1900 in the fom of YELLOW Metro Line 1.

Maybe we should do a bit better at orientating ourselves. 

If you look East from Potte Maillot, you can espy the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile station.

Tuning through 180 degrees you are looking towards La Defense.

Just about visible behind a tree is the Grande Arche ...

... offering a "reflection" of archways, new and old.

Porte Maillot was the terminus of Metro 1 with trains turning via a loop with arrival and departure platforms on said loop. The Carto map explains.

The new station, all underground, built with sidings and loops for terminating trains, was to be opene9d in connection with the extension of the line to Pont de Neuilly, a bridge over the Seine.

Note that RER line C is also YELLOW, but a slightly lighter shade, more primrose than buttercup!

But there was a snag. The existing Metro line 1 was not deep enough to pass under RER line C, a feat it needed to achieve to get to its new station at Pont de Neuilly. 

Massive excavation was needed ...

... which significantly delayed the opening. The banks of the river were eventually reached in 1937, four years after the extension was mooted.

The aim was ultimately to reach La Defense, developed as the "Docklands" of Paris, a huge new business centre. 

This involved widening the Pont de Neuilly ...

... to fit line 1 down the middle!

Both views look east towards the Arc de Triomph.

Back to our chosen interchange.

The next arrival wasn't! In 1970 one of the RED bits that became R E R line A passed by. It doesn't stop at Porte Maillot; note no white blob in the red line in the above diagram extract.

The next arrival was GREEN tram, T3b.

The T3b meets up woth the T3a at Porte de Vincennes, but there is no through running. The trams replaces the celebrated Petit Ceinture (PC) bus route which, in turn replaced the train service of the same name.

The PC bus has been around for a long time ...

... although latterly it, like the tram, was split into more manageable chunks. The present PC, which fills the gap in the trams ...

... carries the route number PC1 although there is now no PC2 or PC3 It terminates at Porte Maillot providing an overlap with tran T3b.

These geographically accurate maps can be a challenge - they certainly were for whoever had to draw them - but they do give the whole picture.

The PC terminates sort of where the gates to the Bois de Boulogne once were!

And the trams stop close to the new "Palais de Congres" building.

Everything Is Underground ...

... and always has been.

Once with Hector Guimard entrances, the various stairs and escalators are now more mundanely signposted ...

... but memories of the old still persist.

The final arrival at Porte Maillot is RER line E (coloured a darkish version of magenta). Its platforms are just magnificent ... 

... as are those at La Defense. Sadly there is no wow-factor building at ground level. Access is, however, still available via the historic RER line C building.

Now here's a question. How many entrances to trains at Porte Maillot might there be? 

There is a published map here reduced to a level of unreadability.

A closer search reveals TEN (but that includes the tram which isn't underground). Here are FOUR ...

,,, then FOUR inc the tram ...

... and TWO more!

And the buses all have Stop specific labels.

Is anywhere in the UK so well informed?

Please Note

Today fbb has a routine six month eye inspection to chart the progress of his Macular Degeneration (so far degeneration is paused!). A brief infill blog may be posted tomorrow too allow the eyeballs to recover from the eye drops! plus the weirdness of the other various tests which involve bright lights, mensuration by prodding and loads more.

 Next (possible) infill blog : Fri 18 July