But the W&C has immense use in the peak direction and no use in the other direction, while the 3bis and 7bis don't see much use at all. I agree that the Northern City Line would be a better comparison.
Hi Geoff, thank you for your brilliant video! I am glad you made a video about the city where I live ! Here is a fun fact about one station of line 7bis : Danube. This station was constructed in a very unstable terrain, where a gypsum mine used to be. Indeed, the station is perched more than 30m above solid ground. This is why they built huge supporting columns below the station. These were needed to keep the station from falling. Pretty impressive for a station of this size ! Ps: I am sorry if my English is not perfect, I am French (oui oui)
Thanks for visiting our metro :) I'm a metro driver on line 13. In few years, line 3bis and 7bis will receive brand new MF19 stock trains. For the moment it's between 2025 and 2027. :) Those trains will have 4 cars. :)
hello! ah ... so kind, merci pour votre commentaire! there's another video coming up next week. Love the Paris Metro so much !!
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@@geofftech2 You didn't mention it in the video but the rolling stock of the line 7bis is really unique. The MF88 stock had been the prototype of what was thought could have been the metro of the 21st century, full of leading edge first of a kind innovations. Unfortunately most of the supposedly good ideas revealed to be a nightmare. A few successful concepts tested on these trains have been used on the MP89 trains introduced on line 1 then 14 (which since then moved or are currently being moved to other lines), but for instance the bogies not
@@sophieteissier1001that's not ! M1 ~ 112 millions passengers/year M4 ~ 106 millions M9 ~ 94 millions Then line 7, line 13... :) It's a legend people say that the line 13 is the busiest. It's the messiest but not the busiest. I drove on line 9 for 5 1/2 year, then line 13 and I'm going back to line 9. :)
Invader is a Paris-based street artist. His work is also found in London (and other cities around the world). There are some good examples around Old Street and Soho :)
I was trying to remember who he was. I always passed a random mosaic space invader by him on the steps on a bridge over the Canal St Martin (I think somewhere not far from where it's finally tunnelled) and he's been cited in books on graffiti art.
couple of notes: - yes, the pathway at Gambetta is indeed where the track used to be. what you didn't mention though, is that the current line 3bis platform was the original Gambetta station. new platforms had to be built for line 3 when it was extended in another direction, and the segment to Gambetta got turned into a branch line. Martin Nadaud station was so close, it was absorbed into Gambetta station. - Porte Molitor never opened, since no exits have ever been built. however, there used to be a train shared between lines 9 and 10 back when both had the same stock, and since they had different seatings, Porte Molitor is where they would replace seats and maps, and store them on the platform, whenever the train had to switch lines. - the shortest distance between two stations is 183 m, between Cluny - La Sorbonne and Maubert - Mutualité. the journey takes about 30 seconds.
Cluny-La Sorbonne was so close to Maubert that it was closed after world war 2, becoming a ghost station. It only opened again to offer a connection to Saint-Michel station when RER B was built. Saint-Michel station which by the way is built below the Seine river. So when you're standing in the station, there's actually water above you.
Oooh, the Geoff and Tim show is back! Yay! I wish you two would make more videos together! One thing you forgot to mention was that the train goes through a former gypsum mine at Buttes Chaumont, which made for huge difficulties building the tunnels! I believe they are even suspended in some places. I used to use Place des Fetes regularly when I lived in Paris in the 1970s (my own métro stations were Duroc or Francois Xavier) as a dear friend lived near there!
The whole of Buttes-Chaumont station is indeed like suspended in the cave through which the line's "tube" is riding. The same thing happend with one of the multiple Montparnasse-Bienvenüe (*) stations, thd whole site having been litterally dug through gypsum caves (thd Paris Catacombes are nearby at Denfert. (*) Bienvenüe, like in the French for welcome ("Bienvenue", which is btw ("Bien-venue") the litteral equivalent translation of "well-come") but with an Umlaut (ü) since its the name of the French Charles Yerkes, the civil engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe who created the Paris Metropolitain.
Yes. This is what I was trying to remember! The tunnels are held up on stilts inside a cavern. There's a wonderful photo of a model of the station Danube, on P221 of "Un Siecle de Metro en 14 Lignes" by Jean Tricoire. The station is in two side by side tunnel bores inside a huge concrete block itself held up on pillars all inside this huge cavern.
Two ideas for future videos: -The Paris Metro used to have First Class in the third car and this was discontinued. -Each station used to have an electric door that would close up when a train arrived, to prevent stragglers from running to the train. They had no retraction device and so could really hurt you if they closed on you. These were decommissioned in the late 1970s IIRC, but I believe may still be found in some stations, permanently propped open.
There was still one (not working) at Denfert-Rochereau in the corridor leading from the metro to the southbound RER B platform. It was still there around 2015, but I don't think it's there anymore. EDIT: Just checked, it's still there as of 2019
I love the 7bis. I specially went to visit it whilst studying in Paris. Little known fact is that the 7bis was dug through a former gypsum mine with massive chambers and extremely unstable ground conditions, parts of the tunnel are actually built on viaducts. It was a truly insane building project.
It is a CRIME that Tim didn't take you to the Parc Buttes-Chaumont to see la Temple de la Sibylle, the lake and go to the cafes there. Best park in all of Paris.
Nice! You're in my city on two of my favorite lines! They have very nice and quiet stations! Also if you've noticed the motor sounds on the 7bis MF88 trains, you will notice that these trains are prototypes for the modern metro trains in Paris.
the sound come from of inverters ...it's the classic Alstom GTO-VVVF, similar at 1996 stock in London. But they are effectively prototypes for the next generation of metros .The Mp89 series and Metropolis familly.
Great video! Thought I’d add info : at 2:02 the bench is so uncomfortable because RATP don’t want homeless people sleeping on them, so they voluntarily made it impossible to lie on. Colour schemes are stock based, not line based. The only difference you might find are both lines 3 and 3bis MF67 stock got unique refurbishments with unique layouts and colours (PIS and longitudinal seats for line 3, and removal of tip up seats for line 3bis). The wall in the middle at Buttes-Chaumont and Botzaris has nothing to do with the line splitting. It’s just because the station is too unstable without them, as they are so deep underground.
I was in Paris for a few days in 2017 (in transit between Vladivostok and Sintra, yeah it was my 'bucket list' trip) and I rode on both those lines. Just because they looked curious on the map. And they didn't disappoint, I'm looking forward to Geoff and Tim's exploration.
Great to see the "old style" trains still rrunning. It's a few years since I last went to Paris, I noticed significant changes to lines 1 & 4 last time I was there, including driverless operation of Line 1, and retro-fitting of platform edge doors.
The tunnel the runs where tracks used to be reminds me of the new(ish) connection between Times Square and Bryant Park here in NYC. They renovated the Times Square Shuttle to be 2 tracks, and replaced the 3rd track with a ramp down from the eastern end of the new island platform to a block long tunnel (with a block long piece of artwork) that ends with stairs down to both platforms at Bryant Park on the 6th Avenue lines (BDFM). Oddly because the shuttle closes overnight, the connection gets locked shut and passengers are told to go and take the 7 train one stop instead. Eventually they will add in elevators to make the connection fully accessible (oddly all of the Times Square complex is accessible EXCEPT for the tunnel that runs from the 8th avenue (ACE) lines to the rest of the station as that tunnel has steep ramps at both ends that are unfriendly to wheelchair users.)
Space Invader mosaics: I did a walking tour for a few hours around Montmartre when I visited Paris. Started at the Moulin Rouge, then the cafe from Amelie, then several other locations including the "love" wall, finally ending at the Sacred Heart Basilica. Our guide liked pointing out the street art and I remember we saw a few of the space invader mosaics. I would bet there's well over 100 that the artist has left around Paris.
Great video as always. Glad to see Geoff and Tim collaborating again. I am subscribed to both of you and this video shows again why =) Have a wonderful weekend everyone
Awesome video of those two lines .A friends name is Lila and we where fascinated there is a station of Porte de Lila's. But after just seeing John Wick 4 recently and they use this station to find out there is a " cinema" station , amazing !! Used the Metro when I went Paris 7 yrs ago and loved it , well done Geoff & his mate .
There have been plans to combine 3bis and 7bis into one line, perhaps a line 19 (but that might be reserved for a future Grand Paris Express line) or a line 20. Such a line would use that eastbound connection between 7bis and 3bis, which in turns necessitates the opening of the famous built-but-never-used Haxo ghost station (as Pre-Saint-Gervais would be turned into a one way station as well).
I'm soo rooting for that project to be realized! Not for practicality or usefulness, but just because, ideologically, it would be soo satisfying to see the Haxo ghost station finally open and utilized, and also because in that way Paris would also hit the coveted mark/record of TWENTY metro lines! 😍😍
Buttes-Chaumont is a beautiful park, landscaped from a disused quarry with the added attraction of the disused Petite Ceinture running through. Somewhere on my channel I've done a short Petite Ceinture video and one on the Arts et Métiers Metro station which has a wonderful Jules Verne interior.
I spent a pleasant afternoon in 2018 walking around Parc des Buttes Chaumont avec ma soeur qui vivait à Paris! Happy memories and thanks for the Metro stories.
What a coincidence, I was in Paris the day before this video went live, used the metro a few times and liked it, I love the chime they have for incoming trains.
Hello Geoff, Sorry to have missed you to reply just in time (due to computer and health diseases). Super to have pursued investigations on small parisian underground city lines. A few years ago i worked there between Place des Fêtes and Télégraphe stations. Telegraphe on line 11 with Place des Fêtes, and Abbesses are one of the deepest stations. During W W2 they were safe places to protect from bombings and until recently were remains like air pipes on ceiling or anti blast big doors. This place is the tallest hill of Paris so optical telegraph station was built above at early 19th century and big water tanks. As mentionned Buttes Chaumont park is a good place to go but for "panoramas" you'll have enlarged views of either north suburban areas until Le Bourget and Roissy airports at "Parc du Chapeau Rouge" 'near Pré saint Gervais station, or of inner Paris at "Parc de Belleville" near Pyrénées station, ranging from Opéra Garnier roofs on your right to Opéra Bastille and Gare de Lyon on your left. But the best place for train pleasure, from my point of view, not too far from there is at top of Montmartre Sacré Coeur Dôme from which you'll see non stop running trains like eurostars, thalys, regional -ter- or suburban-rer- commuters between gare du Nord to Stadium of France and ahead. It gives you model scale illusion. Perhaps another trip in Paris or arround ? It would be nice to meet you. Congratulations again for Tim and for you. best regards from Marco.
We were in Paris a few years ago, arriving at the start of some major strikes on the metro network (the yellow vests/gilet jaunes). We had to get somewhere but there were no drivers, and one driver volunteered to commandeer a train and drive it backwards down the wrong line to take a bunch of us where we needed to go. The train was screeching and bouncing and the lights were cutting out, like it was in physical pain. I can remember watching the adjoining carriages literally disappear through the windows as the train took sharp lefts down the tunnel backwards at 40mph. Single most unique train experience I've ever had. 10/10 would do it again
So good to see Geoff and Tim back out on the Metro… did anyone think that Tim was channelling the French stereotype with a stripey top and a beret? 😜 At 4:03, great to see Tim saying 98 in French, or to translate directly: four twenty eighteen 😀 Hope you both had fun on the trains!
I lived next to Danube for over 2 years. Being a metro nerd myself I found that getting the 7bis daily was amazing. I'd occasionally get the 7bis change to the tram and then hop on the 3bis 😂
Because of the plague and some other delayed plans, I haven’t been to Paris in a few years (I used to go 2-3 times a year). This video is making me excited to be returning in the late summer for a little Rugby tournament they’ve got planned. My poor wife is going to be getting dragged around some of these sights.
Now that you've done the 3bis and the 7bis on the Paris Metro, you have to do the U4 on the Berlin U-Bahn, which has a *very* similar vibe, but a bit of a different history. And no, this is not just an excuse to get you to visit Berlin again! xD
Also the stations on the northern section of the U8 are must do’s as well. Residenzstraße, Paracelsus Bad, Wittenau, Rathaus Reinickendorf and my absolute favourIte Karl Bonhoeffer Nervenklinik are all absolutely beautiful stations
Thanks for covering the Paris metro! Nice to see you outside your London's playground. Hopefully you'll cover more metros in all of Europe! Madrid, Milan, Stockholm...
Nice video ! Will you be able to make a video on the RER A one day please because it is one of the quietest lines of the French RER and it passes by my house
A bit of visual confusion at 8:50 - shot of Place des Fetes, close-up of Place des Fetes on the route diagram, immediately cut to Geoff at Louis Blanc the other end of the line. Confusing editing. 7bis and 3bis are my favourite Metro lines for the same reason, that 'remote' feeling - and 7bis has some extremely tight curves beyond Botzaris.
I think the shortest distance between two stations is between Martin Nadeau and Gambetta. Since you visited Gambetta, you know that the station is just massively long. That's because when they separated the 3bis from the 3 they had to rebuild the station and since the distance between the Martin Nadeau station and the new Gambetta station was so short, they just merged them.
Cluny la Sorbonne to Maubert feels shorter because you can actually see between the two stations in the tunnel. Haven't ridden the 10 much beyond that so I can't really compare the actual travel time but the straight line and visibility makes the two feel insanely close!
When I lived in Paris in the 1970s, Cluny (then just plain Cluny) was a "ghost station" - I was very surprised when I found it had re-opened. There was also a ghost station called Croix-Rouge, but that has not, as far as I know, reopened. I mostly used the line between Emile-Zola and Dupleix, which was my commute for awhile, but certainly used the rest of the line on occasion!
This was a really fun episode, I’ll have to do that when I go Paris in autumn this year, fortunately I also get the joy of coming from Zurich with the TGV
The Paris trick with the handle is that you can lift it in advance, and they will open the doors slightly before the stop, so you can get off while still moving, so it's fast, and you already have some speed up and can just continue walking. :-) Efficiency!
Only if the driver unlocks in advance. The system releases the doors at 10 km/h. But waiting for the slam allows you to open with the door released and under pressure...The door will open much faster.
@@Lodai974 Yes, the system releases the doors at 10km/h. So before you stop. And lifting the handle in advance makes it both easier to open (less force for you) and it opens immediately at 10km/h. So the trains with these handles are definitely my favorite. I'm sure they will slowly be replaced.
@@Lodai974 It's possible that the door opens somewhat slower than if you lift it a few seconds later, but since it starts opening earlier, you can still get off faster.
Another great video Geoff - thank you! Speaking of least used, how about doing the least used station in Scotland? I've had a look online and it may be Lochluichart, but I could be wrong.
Great video Tim and Geoff. I’ve done a bit of research and I think Cluny-La Sorbonne - Odeon is closer at probably just under 300m and Cluny-La Sorbonne - Maubert-Mutualité is probably 350-400m. This is probably not 100% accurate with the distances but I’m fairly sure I’m right about which one of the two is closer. I’d have thought Chalalet to Les Halles on line 4 would be amongst the closest distances between stations, my guess that’s less than 300m at least going Northbound as there’s a bend there
Props to the person who produces the cartometro website. Not a week passes without me looking how the track and platforms are actually positioned in one of the European cities. 👍
Geoff et Tim sont toujours amusants! Je suis toujours ravi de les voir faire une vidéo de collaboration. I can't wait to visit Paris and ride the Métro. I'm wondering what the gap between the trains and the platforms are like for wheelchair accessibility.
I think in France you should have a copy of “let’s Parler Franglais”!, to read and to confuse the locals too. Miles Kington was a genius as it were, his books brighten up any journey. I lent a copy of it to my French teacher at school and he was amused by it, luckily he was my form teacher too. Just out of curiosity are the French Metro trains open carriages on the busier lines or is it still very much carriages to make up the train.
Was there for a Confce in early 2022. And the newish tram in central Luxembourg City starts from outside the main line train terminal. And like all other transport modes in the Grand Duchy, in 2nd class and only within the country, is at all times, completely free!!
The 7bis line have unique trains in the whole Paris metro! Also you don’t mention it but between the 3bis and 7bis there is the "voie des fêtes"with the ghost station haxo, but there’s also the "voie navette" which was used to test the first pneumatic metro in the world, the MP51! I’m a big fan of the Paris metro 😂
Not sure if you know, but in the UK. There is a new station currently in the process of being completed on the line that Connects Basingstoke & Reading. The new station is called “Reading Green Park” and it’s between Mortimer and Reading West.
I went to Paris back in June and I got to ride the metro. I always thought the LU doors were brutal but Paris puts it on a whole new level! I saw a woman get squashed in the doors and have to muscle her way onto the train as it began to move!
Fun fact : The tunnel between Maubert and Cluny is indeed the shortest of the Paris metro, however the distance between their closest exits is not ! Just as London, in Paris you can sometimes walk a ridiculously short distance from one exit to the next stop of the same line. It's mostly caused by big stations that have a lot of exits and some of them are really far from the "center" point of the station. Here are some examples : République to Temple on line 3, Saint-Lazare to Trinité on line 12, Strasbourg - Saint-Denis to Bonne Nouvelle on lines 8-9 as well as the other exit pole of Bonne Nouvelle to Grands Boulevards and same goes with Grands Boulevards to Richelieu-Drouot... And of course Les Halles to Châtelet - Les Halles (RER side) on line 4.
Also my favourite lines in Paris Metro. Hope they'll finally end up connected. P.S. You should really come to visit Moscow Underground someday. You'll have a wonderful time there. We even have a monorail!
Hey Geoff! My mind is so twisted at this time. I'm a French Canadian from Montreal and used to check out on Brits channels once and other times on French channels. But now you're in Paris. Everything around you is French but you're British. I'm reading the ads and the announcements in French while trying to listen to you in English. Wow! But that's ok I could manage. Good to see you in Paris. Have a good time )
I rode on this line on the Berlin übhann that only had 2 terminuses and 1 intermediate station, think they expanded it but from the main haptbnhöf station
That‘s “U-Bahn” and “Hauptbahnhof”. Just because we have ä, ö und ü doesn’t mean you can just throw them into a word at will. Apart from that, you‘re correct. The U55 you‘re referring to was only a placeholder and has since been joined up to the rest of U5.
Finnally Geoff sees the “Waterloo and City Line” of the Paris Merro
I'm not sure they'd like that comparison haha!
@@TalesOfWar Line 3bis is the W&C with extra stops
@@Nivestim possibly like the Northern City line when it was part of the LU?
@@Nivestim I'm thinking of the Waterloo part lol.
But the W&C has immense use in the peak direction and no use in the other direction, while the 3bis and 7bis don't see much use at all. I agree that the Northern City Line would be a better comparison.
Hi Geoff, thank you for your brilliant video! I am glad you made a video about the city where I live !
Here is a fun fact about one station of line 7bis : Danube. This station was constructed in a very unstable terrain, where a gypsum mine used to be. Indeed, the station is perched more than 30m above solid ground. This is why they built huge supporting columns below the station. These were needed to keep the station from falling. Pretty impressive for a station of this size !
Ps: I am sorry if my English is not perfect, I am French (oui oui)
Thanks for visiting our metro :)
I'm a metro driver on line 13.
In few years, line 3bis and 7bis will receive brand new MF19 stock trains. For the moment it's between 2025 and 2027. :)
Those trains will have 4 cars. :)
hello! ah ... so kind, merci pour votre commentaire! there's another video coming up next week. Love the Paris Metro so much !!
@@geofftech2 You didn't mention it in the video but the rolling stock of the line 7bis is really unique. The MF88 stock had been the prototype of what was thought could have been the metro of the 21st century, full of leading edge first of a kind innovations. Unfortunately most of the supposedly good ideas revealed to be a nightmare. A few successful concepts tested on these trains have been used on the MP89 trains introduced on line 1 then 14 (which since then moved or are currently being moved to other lines), but for instance the bogies not
@the bogie tech is used on mf01 and it is genuinely the quietest and smoothest metro in the world
Damn he is a driver on the most occupied line of Paris metro
@@sophieteissier1001that's not !
M1 ~ 112 millions passengers/year
M4 ~ 106 millions
M9 ~ 94 millions
Then line 7, line 13... :)
It's a legend people say that the line 13 is the busiest. It's the messiest but not the busiest.
I drove on line 9 for 5 1/2 year, then line 13 and I'm going back to line 9. :)
Invader is a Paris-based street artist. His work is also found in London (and other cities around the world). There are some good examples around Old Street and Soho :)
There's one on Clerkenwell Road by the bus stop on the corner of Hatton Garden.
I've personally seen them in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen as well as Paris and London. I first saw one in maybe 2010.
I was trying to remember who he was. I always passed a random mosaic space invader by him on the steps on a bridge over the Canal St Martin (I think somewhere not far from where it's finally tunnelled) and he's been cited in books on graffiti art.
There was a small exhibition of his work in Melbourne, Australia. I think he visited in the early 2000s.
We have a couple in Newcastle
couple of notes:
- yes, the pathway at Gambetta is indeed where the track used to be. what you didn't mention though, is that the current line 3bis platform was the original Gambetta station. new platforms had to be built for line 3 when it was extended in another direction, and the segment to Gambetta got turned into a branch line. Martin Nadaud station was so close, it was absorbed into Gambetta station.
- Porte Molitor never opened, since no exits have ever been built. however, there used to be a train shared between lines 9 and 10 back when both had the same stock, and since they had different seatings, Porte Molitor is where they would replace seats and maps, and store them on the platform, whenever the train had to switch lines.
- the shortest distance between two stations is 183 m, between Cluny - La Sorbonne and Maubert - Mutualité. the journey takes about 30 seconds.
Cluny-La Sorbonne was so close to Maubert that it was closed after world war 2, becoming a ghost station. It only opened again to offer a connection to Saint-Michel station when RER B was built. Saint-Michel station which by the way is built below the Seine river. So when you're standing in the station, there's actually water above you.
Oooh, the Geoff and Tim show is back! Yay! I wish you two would make more videos together! One thing you forgot to mention was that the train goes through a former gypsum mine at Buttes Chaumont, which made for huge difficulties building the tunnels! I believe they are even suspended in some places. I used to use Place des Fetes regularly when I lived in Paris in the 1970s (my own métro stations were Duroc or Francois Xavier) as a dear friend lived near there!
both of them are very entertaining.
The whole of Buttes-Chaumont station is indeed like suspended in the cave through which the line's "tube" is riding. The same thing happend with one of the multiple Montparnasse-Bienvenüe (*) stations, thd whole site having been litterally dug through gypsum caves (thd Paris Catacombes are nearby at Denfert.
(*) Bienvenüe, like in the French for welcome ("Bienvenue", which is btw ("Bien-venue") the litteral equivalent translation of "well-come") but with an Umlaut (ü) since its the name of the French Charles Yerkes, the civil engineer Fulgence Bienvenüe who created the Paris Metropolitain.
Yes. This is what I was trying to remember! The tunnels are held up on stilts inside a cavern. There's a wonderful photo of a model of the station Danube, on P221 of "Un Siecle de Metro en 14 Lignes" by Jean Tricoire. The station is in two side by side tunnel bores inside a huge concrete block itself held up on pillars all inside this huge cavern.
@@jeanbonnefoy1377 you score triple-intersection for mentioning Charles Yerkes !
Two ideas for future videos:
-The Paris Metro used to have First Class in the third car and this was discontinued.
-Each station used to have an electric door that would close up when a train arrived, to prevent stragglers from running to the train. They had no retraction device and so could really hurt you if they closed on you. These were decommissioned in the late 1970s IIRC, but I believe may still be found in some stations, permanently propped open.
You could still find few of those doors in late 2000s (not working) but not anymore. All have been removed.
There was still one (not working) at Denfert-Rochereau in the corridor leading from the metro to the southbound RER B platform. It was still there around 2015, but I don't think it's there anymore.
EDIT: Just checked, it's still there as of 2019
I love the 7bis. I specially went to visit it whilst studying in Paris. Little known fact is that the 7bis was dug through a former gypsum mine with massive chambers and extremely unstable ground conditions, parts of the tunnel are actually built on viaducts. It was a truly insane building project.
The shoulder shrug and "je ne sais pas" look about the mystery of the lost seat was your best bit of french in all the video geoff 👌
Did anyone else notice that e acute when he said he was going to order some coffé ?
It is a CRIME that Tim didn't take you to the Parc Buttes-Chaumont to see la Temple de la Sibylle, the lake and go to the cafes there. Best park in all of Paris.
In my defence, your honour - I took him there the moment we finished filming :)
I took a look on maps and was instantly impressed. Very nice.
I didn’t even know that Buttes Chaumont had a station 😅 pour vivre la vie bien bobo hein
Parc Monceau grumbles silently in anger...
And the Butte Bergeyre for a view and the Mouzaia quarter would have been brilliant visits nearby...
@@TheTimTraveller isn’t it closed at the moment?
Nice! You're in my city on two of my favorite lines! They have very nice and quiet stations!
Also if you've noticed the motor sounds on the 7bis MF88 trains, you will notice that these trains are prototypes for the modern metro trains in Paris.
the sound come from of inverters ...it's the classic Alstom GTO-VVVF, similar at 1996 stock in London.
But they are effectively prototypes for the next generation of metros .The Mp89 series and Metropolis familly.
Great video! Thought I’d add info : at 2:02 the bench is so uncomfortable because RATP don’t want homeless people sleeping on them, so they voluntarily made it impossible to lie on.
Colour schemes are stock based, not line based. The only difference you might find are both lines 3 and 3bis MF67 stock got unique refurbishments with unique layouts and colours (PIS and longitudinal seats for line 3, and removal of tip up seats for line 3bis).
The wall in the middle at Buttes-Chaumont and Botzaris has nothing to do with the line splitting. It’s just because the station is too unstable without them, as they are so deep underground.
Great to see the Geoff and Tim show again. What a treat. Merci beaucoup.
Great video Geoff, love the banter with Tim Traveller.
I was in Paris for a few days in 2017 (in transit between Vladivostok and Sintra, yeah it was my 'bucket list' trip) and I rode on both those lines. Just because they looked curious on the map. And they didn't disappoint, I'm looking forward to Geoff and Tim's exploration.
Geoff and Tim in one show. Two of my favorites. 👍🏻
I love how Tim played 'the local expert' with stripey top, sunnies and cool almost-beret!
Great to see the "old style" trains still rrunning. It's a few years since I last went to Paris, I noticed significant changes to lines 1 & 4 last time I was there, including driverless operation of Line 1, and retro-fitting of platform edge doors.
Great to see another video with you and The Tim Traveller in Paris!
The tunnel the runs where tracks used to be reminds me of the new(ish) connection between Times Square and Bryant Park here in NYC. They renovated the Times Square Shuttle to be 2 tracks, and replaced the 3rd track with a ramp down from the eastern end of the new island platform to a block long tunnel (with a block long piece of artwork) that ends with stairs down to both platforms at Bryant Park on the 6th Avenue lines (BDFM). Oddly because the shuttle closes overnight, the connection gets locked shut and passengers are told to go and take the 7 train one stop instead. Eventually they will add in elevators to make the connection fully accessible (oddly all of the Times Square complex is accessible EXCEPT for the tunnel that runs from the 8th avenue (ACE) lines to the rest of the station as that tunnel has steep ramps at both ends that are unfriendly to wheelchair users.)
I quite like the design of the Paris Metro's stations, especially the Art Nouveau station entrances.
And the few Art Deco ones are also very impressive, as we saw in this video.🎉
Space Invader mosaics: I did a walking tour for a few hours around Montmartre when I visited Paris. Started at the Moulin Rouge, then the cafe from Amelie, then several other locations including the "love" wall, finally ending at the Sacred Heart Basilica. Our guide liked pointing out the street art and I remember we saw a few of the space invader mosaics. I would bet there's well over 100 that the artist has left around Paris.
the secret line between 3bis and 7bis is called "la voie des fêtes"
the flip up seats have been removed for maintenance
The two tracks each have their own name. The Voie des Fêtes is the eastbound track and the westbound track is named Voie Navette
The Party Route?
@Pesky Pigeon🐦 the Shuttle Route - oh ! I thought etc
Geoff! Hair coloring? A new look?
Love these little short line stories…
Love Tim as your “pro French speaker”…
Lovely to see Paris. I have a visceral reaction to Paris. It'sike seeing a lost lover that I've never got over. It's such a special place
Great video as always. Glad to see Geoff and Tim collaborating again. I am subscribed to both of you and this video shows again why =) Have a wonderful weekend everyone
Awesome video of those two lines .A friends name is Lila and we where fascinated there is a station of Porte de Lila's. But after just seeing John Wick 4 recently and they use this station to find out there is a " cinema" station , amazing !! Used the Metro when I went Paris 7 yrs ago and loved it , well done Geoff & his mate .
Gallieni still serves the coach station at the far end.
The thing I really like about the old trains is you can open the doors as the trains pulling in, you can do that on the Berlin one as well
There have been plans to combine 3bis and 7bis into one line, perhaps a line 19 (but that might be reserved for a future Grand Paris Express line) or a line 20. Such a line would use that eastbound connection between 7bis and 3bis, which in turns necessitates the opening of the famous built-but-never-used Haxo ghost station (as Pre-Saint-Gervais would be turned into a one way station as well).
I'm soo rooting for that project to be realized! Not for practicality or usefulness, but just because, ideologically, it would be soo satisfying to see the Haxo ghost station finally open and utilized, and also because in that way Paris would also hit the coveted mark/record of TWENTY metro lines! 😍😍
I love when you do videos with Tim. You should make it a regular thing.
Buttes-Chaumont is a beautiful park, landscaped from a disused quarry with the added attraction of the disused Petite Ceinture running through.
Somewhere on my channel I've done a short Petite Ceinture video and one on the Arts et Métiers Metro station which has a wonderful Jules Verne interior.
I spent a pleasant afternoon in 2018 walking around Parc des Buttes Chaumont avec ma soeur qui vivait
à Paris! Happy memories and thanks for the Metro stories.
2 of my favorite TH-camrs in one video! Omg YAAAAASSSS!!!
Glad to see you back in this game. Looking forward to seeing more.
1:25 Slammy Door and Handle Door have a special place on the channel.
What a coincidence, I was in Paris the day before this video went live, used the metro a few times and liked it, I love the chime they have for incoming trains.
I'm worried next time you won't need me at all! Pleasure to be your local guide again, Monsieur le Maréchal :)
p.s. no, I still don't know
i asked someone else, and ... answer's in the description, Tim! :-)
Hello Geoff,
Sorry to have missed you to reply just in time (due to computer and health diseases).
Super to have pursued investigations on small parisian underground city lines.
A few years ago i worked there between Place des Fêtes and Télégraphe stations. Telegraphe on line 11 with Place des Fêtes, and Abbesses are one of the deepest stations. During W W2 they were safe places to protect from bombings and until recently were remains like air pipes on ceiling or anti blast big doors. This place is the tallest hill of Paris so optical telegraph station was built above at early 19th century and big water tanks. As mentionned Buttes Chaumont park is a good place to go but for "panoramas" you'll have enlarged views of either north suburban areas until Le Bourget and Roissy airports at "Parc du Chapeau Rouge" 'near Pré saint Gervais station, or of inner Paris at "Parc de Belleville" near Pyrénées station, ranging from Opéra Garnier roofs on your right to Opéra Bastille and Gare de Lyon on your left.
But the best place for train pleasure, from my point of view, not too far from there is at top of Montmartre Sacré Coeur Dôme from which you'll see non stop running trains like eurostars, thalys, regional -ter- or suburban-rer- commuters between gare du Nord to Stadium of France and ahead. It gives you model scale illusion.
Perhaps another trip in Paris or arround ?
It would be nice to meet you.
Congratulations again for Tim and for you.
best regards from Marco.
We were in Paris a few years ago, arriving at the start of some major strikes on the metro network (the yellow vests/gilet jaunes).
We had to get somewhere but there were no drivers, and one driver volunteered to commandeer a train and drive it backwards down the wrong line to take a bunch of us where we needed to go.
The train was screeching and bouncing and the lights were cutting out, like it was in physical pain.
I can remember watching the adjoining carriages literally disappear through the windows as the train took sharp lefts down the tunnel backwards at 40mph.
Single most unique train experience I've ever had. 10/10 would do it again
That reminds me, I should go to Paris more often.
There is always a good excuse to go to Paris. If only for the food and wine
So good to see Geoff and Tim back out on the Metro… did anyone think that Tim was channelling the French stereotype with a stripey top and a beret? 😜
At 4:03, great to see Tim saying 98 in French, or to translate directly: four twenty eighteen 😀
Hope you both had fun on the trains!
A more accurate translation would be four score and eighteen...
As a French speaker I realised how your french improved since the Eglise d'Auteuil video ! I love your french accent ! Félicitations 🎉
Roght 👍 FYI, only a bit of work on the R sounding would make a huge improvement 🎉 Ask Tim...
@@testman9541 Yeah, indeed, though it's not easy to be able to pronounce the "R" french haha
@@FouiAnimations Not easy is quite relative ey, ask a spaniard for clarification on R and J 🥳
Back in Paris, love it! I went on both these lines, plus all the line son the Network! Brilliant video, Love the bis lines!
Great to see Geoff and Tim working together!
I lived next to Danube for over 2 years. Being a metro nerd myself I found that getting the 7bis daily was amazing. I'd occasionally get the 7bis change to the tram and then hop on the 3bis 😂
Because of the plague and some other delayed plans, I haven’t been to Paris in a few years (I used to go 2-3 times a year). This video is making me excited to be returning in the late summer for a little Rugby tournament they’ve got planned. My poor wife is going to be getting dragged around some of these sights.
Likewise: Ill be at the S/Africa (L'Afrique de Sud) versus Ireland ( L'Irlande) game. I'm Irish and I'll be with a S/A ex-work mate...
Now that you've done the 3bis and the 7bis on the Paris Metro, you have to do the U4 on the Berlin U-Bahn, which has a *very* similar vibe, but a bit of a different history. And no, this is not just an excuse to get you to visit Berlin again! xD
Also the stations on the northern section of the U8 are must do’s as well. Residenzstraße, Paracelsus Bad, Wittenau, Rathaus Reinickendorf and my absolute favourIte Karl Bonhoeffer Nervenklinik are all absolutely beautiful stations
Thanks for covering the Paris metro! Nice to see you outside your London's playground. Hopefully you'll cover more metros in all of Europe! Madrid, Milan, Stockholm...
Nice video ! Will you be able to make a video on the RER A one day please because it is one of the quietest lines of the French RER and it passes by my house
A bit of visual confusion at 8:50 - shot of Place des Fetes, close-up of Place des Fetes on the route diagram, immediately cut to Geoff at Louis Blanc the other end of the line. Confusing editing.
7bis and 3bis are my favourite Metro lines for the same reason, that 'remote' feeling - and 7bis has some extremely tight curves beyond Botzaris.
I think the shortest distance between two stations is between Martin Nadeau and Gambetta.
Since you visited Gambetta, you know that the station is just massively long. That's because when they separated the 3bis from the 3 they had to rebuild the station and since the distance between the Martin Nadeau station and the new Gambetta station was so short, they just merged them.
Thanks Geoff love your videos. I've learnt so much about trains because of your videos. 👍
Cluny la Sorbonne to Maubert feels shorter because you can actually see between the two stations in the tunnel. Haven't ridden the 10 much beyond that so I can't really compare the actual travel time but the straight line and visibility makes the two feel insanely close!
When I lived in Paris in the 1970s, Cluny (then just plain Cluny) was a "ghost station" - I was very surprised when I found it had re-opened. There was also a ghost station called Croix-Rouge, but that has not, as far as I know, reopened. I mostly used the line between Emile-Zola and Dupleix, which was my commute for awhile, but certainly used the rest of the line on occasion!
I know what you mean, Montreal Metro has the same thing between several stations. It makes them look closer than they are.
I was last in Paris 10 years ago. It's amazing how things haven't changed. Same tickets, same doors and chair colors, same Lion King show poster.
Not changed vs the same 😊 Lion King is in Mogador Theatre, so 😅
Thanks Geoff for a superb video one of my favourite metro systems ,I will definitely use Rosetta Stone to improve my French.
What a treat! And such a nice surprise, this collab.
1:25 Vienna U-Bahn still has handles on the older stock :))
That was lovely. And I love the hair Geoff!
Cant beat a bit of french quirk. Well done Geoff and Tim (definitely subscribed to both of you)
This was a really fun episode, I’ll have to do that when I go Paris in autumn this year, fortunately I also get the joy of coming from Zurich with the TGV
The camera angle at 7:35, reminds me of some Glasgow subway stations!
Excellent Video again dear Geoff. And a great new hairstyle!
Two of my favourites. And riding my local métro line of all places ! ☺️
The Paris trick with the handle is that you can lift it in advance, and they will open the doors slightly before the stop, so you can get off while still moving, so it's fast, and you already have some speed up and can just continue walking. :-) Efficiency!
Only if the driver unlocks in advance. The system releases the doors at 10 km/h.
But waiting for the slam allows you to open with the door released and under pressure...The door will open much faster.
@@Lodai974 Yes, the system releases the doors at 10km/h. So before you stop. And lifting the handle in advance makes it both easier to open (less force for you) and it opens immediately at 10km/h.
So the trains with these handles are definitely my favorite. I'm sure they will slowly be replaced.
@@RegebroRepairs yes it's more easier ,but opening is not as fast .And yes they will disappear, between 2026 and 2029 ... without exception..
@@Lodai974 It's possible that the door opens somewhat slower than if you lift it a few seconds later, but since it starts opening earlier, you can still get off faster.
I love these international videos! Please do more! 😊
Paris' transport system is great :) maybe the only one I would say potentially holds a candle to London! Great video as always!
I live in paris and any video Geoff does on its metro mskes my day!
I didn’t know anything about the Paris network, great seeing both my favourite TH-camrs in the one video :)
Another great video Geoff - thank you!
Speaking of least used, how about doing the least used station in Scotland?
I've had a look online and it may be Lochluichart, but I could be wrong.
Great video Tim and Geoff. I’ve done a bit of research and I think Cluny-La Sorbonne - Odeon is closer at probably just under 300m and Cluny-La Sorbonne - Maubert-Mutualité is probably 350-400m. This is probably not 100% accurate with the distances but I’m fairly sure I’m right about which one of the two is closer. I’d have thought Chalalet to Les Halles on line 4 would be amongst the closest distances between stations, my guess that’s less than 300m at least going Northbound as there’s a bend there
Props to the person who produces the cartometro website. Not a week passes without me looking how the track and platforms are actually positioned in one of the European cities. 👍
Gotta love some more Geoff & Tim adventures
Brilliant video Geoff keep up the good work
Loved this video of my favourite undergroundsystem- i started writing a book on the history of the Metro - I need to go back to it...
Great video, love the Paris Metro, love your videos and Tim's....we had The Tim Thumb
Geoff et Tim sont toujours amusants! Je suis toujours ravi de les voir faire une vidéo de collaboration.
I can't wait to visit Paris and ride the Métro. I'm wondering what the gap between the trains and the platforms are like for wheelchair accessibility.
Looking stylish Tim!
I think in France you should have a copy of “let’s Parler Franglais”!, to read and to confuse the locals too. Miles Kington was a genius as it were, his books brighten up any journey. I lent a copy of it to my French teacher at school and he was amused by it, luckily he was my form teacher too. Just out of curiosity are the French Metro trains open carriages on the busier lines or is it still very much carriages to make up the train.
Tim being all incognito with the sunglasses. 😆
Great video. I need to go to Paris now
Have you considered doing Luxembourg? Since 2020 all public transport is free. You might be able to do the entire rail network in a day.
Was there for a Confce in early 2022. And the newish tram in central Luxembourg City starts from outside the main line train terminal. And like all other transport modes in the Grand Duchy, in 2nd class and only within the country, is at all times, completely free!!
The 7bis line have unique trains in the whole Paris metro!
Also you don’t mention it but between the 3bis and 7bis there is the "voie des fêtes"with the ghost station haxo, but there’s also the "voie navette" which was used to test the first pneumatic metro in the world, the MP51!
I’m a big fan of the Paris metro 😂
YE you ride paris metro im french so its cool you are the best british youtuber i watch
Not sure if you know, but in the UK. There is a new station currently in the process of being completed on the line that Connects Basingstoke & Reading.
The new station is called “Reading Green Park” and it’s between Mortimer and Reading West.
yay, geoff's in paris! I love the Metro (and Paris itself for that matter)
I went to Paris back in June and I got to ride the metro. I always thought the LU doors were brutal but Paris puts it on a whole new level! I saw a woman get squashed in the doors and have to muscle her way onto the train as it began to move!
Very cool. Come to Toulouse I'll show you around😊
7:20 I thought you said "To the seventies", but that matched perfectly with the orange background in the next shot.
those line have a complicated history,but nice video
The line fron the left,at the Gambeta,is used as a garage
Fun fact :
The tunnel between Maubert and Cluny is indeed the shortest of the Paris metro, however the distance between their closest exits is not ! Just as London, in Paris you can sometimes walk a ridiculously short distance from one exit to the next stop of the same line. It's mostly caused by big stations that have a lot of exits and some of them are really far from the "center" point of the station.
Here are some examples : République to Temple on line 3, Saint-Lazare to Trinité on line 12, Strasbourg - Saint-Denis to Bonne Nouvelle on lines 8-9 as well as the other exit pole of Bonne Nouvelle to Grands Boulevards and same goes with Grands Boulevards to Richelieu-Drouot... And of course Les Halles to Châtelet - Les Halles (RER side) on line 4.
3bis was closed today when I tried to visit. But I did get one of the old trains on line 11. Did have to skip a door just to open it myself!
One does not do a video in Paris without Tim 👌
4:45 I have seen some of these „Tiled Artwork“ in Strasbourg, in Stork shape. It’s a French artist’s work : INVADOR
Exactly what I needed!
Moral of the Story: Tim is best person in Paris for Dutch Angles.
Literally I came back from Paris yesterday where I have ridden lines 2,6 and 11... And Geoff uploaded video about paris metro today...
I ride lines 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 13 and 14
Also my favourite lines in Paris Metro. Hope they'll finally end up connected.
P.S. You should really come to visit Moscow Underground someday. You'll have a wonderful time there. We even have a monorail!
Loving the hair Geoff 👊🏽💯
Hey Geoff! My mind is so twisted at this time. I'm a French Canadian from Montreal and used to check out on Brits channels once and other times on French channels. But now you're in Paris. Everything around you is French but you're British. I'm reading the ads and the announcements in French while trying to listen to you in English. Wow! But that's ok I could manage. Good to see you in Paris. Have a good time )
I rode on this line on the Berlin übhann that only had 2 terminuses and 1 intermediate station, think they expanded it but from the main haptbnhöf station
That‘s “U-Bahn” and “Hauptbahnhof”. Just because we have ä, ö und ü doesn’t mean you can just throw them into a word at will.
Apart from that, you‘re correct. The U55 you‘re referring to was only a placeholder and has since been joined up to the rest of U5.
Go to Munich, they still have some of the old stock with which I grew up and they also have a handle.