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Paris transport strike LATEST: How services are affected on Friday

People in Paris are advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary on Friday, as a massive strike is set to severely disrupt the public transport network. Here's a rundown of how services are affected.

Published: 16 February 2022 17:38 CET
Updated: 18 February 2022 08:47 CET
Paris transport strike LATEST: How services are affected on Friday
Well over half of Paris Metro stations will be closed on Friday. Photo: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Unions are calling for a co-ordinated walk-out on Friday, February 18th, of workers on the capital’s RATP public transport network, in an ongoing dispute over pay.

The disruption will be severe, with the city’s revised strike timetable showing that more than half of Metro lines will not be running at all, with others running only during rush hour. Those services that do run are expected to be extremely busy.

Trams, buses and some RER suburban trains are also affected.

Transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has called on anyone who can to work from home on Friday, while RATP is also advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

The Transilien train network and remaining RER services – which are operated by national rail operator SNCF – are not affected.

The dispute is over annual pay increases, with unions saying that RATP’s proposed 0.4 percent is not enough to cover increases in the cost of living.

RATP has published its revised strike timetable with the following services; 

Metro

Lines 1 and 14, which are automated, will run as normal but are likely to be extremely busy. The Orly-Val shuttle service to Orly airport will also run as normal.

On Line 1 the following stations will be closed – Reuilly-Diderot, Bastille, Hôtel de Ville and Concorde

Lines 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13 will run only during rush hours – 6.30am to 9.30am and 4.30pm to 7.30pm.

Line 3 – will run only between Pont Levallois and Havre-Caumartin, with 1 in 4 of the normal services running. The Villiers station is closed.

Line 4 – half normal service with stations closed; Marcadet-Poissonniers, Barbès-Rochechouart, Gare de l’Est, Strasbourg Saint-Denis, Saint-Placide, Raspail, Alésia

Line 6  – will be running only between Nation and Place d’Italie, 1 in 3 of normal service

Line 9 – 1 in 3 of normal service. Stations closed; Exelmans, Jasmin, Alma-Marceau, Charonne, Maraichers, République, Strasbourg-Saint-Denis, Grands Boulevards, Trocadéro, Michel-Ange-Molitar

Line 11 – One train in four is operating at peak hours. Hôtel de Ville, République, et Arts et Métiers stations are closed.

Line 12 – Trains will run only between Mairie d’Issy and Montparnasse-Bienvenüe. Pasteur station is closed

Line 13 – 1 in 3 of normal service. Stations closed; Pernety, Duroc, Varenne, Invalides, Liège, Place du Clichy, Brochant, Garibaldi

Lines 2, 3bis, 5, 7bis, 8, and 10 – no services on these lines

Graphic: RATP Group / Twitter

RER

RER lines A and B – the line that runs into the city from Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports – will be affected, with services running between 5.30am and 12midnight. 

They will be running half the normal services during rush hours and 1 in 3 normal services the rest of the day.

RER B will involve changing at Gare du Nord.

Trams

Trams will be running 1 in 3 an average of their normal services with limited service times

Line 1 – half normal services. Service only between 6.30am and 12noon and 3pm and 9pm

Line 2 – 1 service in 3. Service only between 6am and 10.45am and 4.30pm and 8.45pm

Line 3a – 2 service in 3. Service only between Pont du Garigliano and Porte d’Ivry and only between 6.30am and 10.30am and 4pm and 8.30pm

Line 3b – half normal service. Service only between Porte de Vincennes and Porte de la Chapelle and only between 7.30am and 9.30am and 4.30pm and 7.30pm

Line 5 – half normal service. Service only between 5.30am and 9.30am and 3.30pm and 7.30pm

Line 6 – half normal service. Service between 6am and 9pm

Line 7 – half normal service. Service between 6.30am and 12.30pm and 2.30pm and 8.30pm

Buses

On average, 2 in 3 of the normal bus services will be running, but routes and lines may vary

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PARIS

MAP: Where and when will Paris ban cars from the city centre?

Authorities in Paris have drawn up ambitious plans to limit traffic in the historic city centre - here's how the plans will work and the revised timetable for introduction.

Published: 18 February 2022 12:59 CET
MAP: Where and when will Paris ban cars from the city centre?

It was announced on Wednesday that authorities in Paris had delayed the introduction of their plan to limit vehicle use in the city centre.

Here’s how the new rules will work, and when they will be introduced.

Where?

This does not concern the whole of Paris, but only arrondissements 1-4, which make up much of the historic city centre that runs along the Seine and attracts the most tourists.

The below map from newspaper Le Parisien shows the central zone that will be affected by the new rules

When?

The plans were first announced in May 2021 and were set to come into effect in 2022.

However on Thursday, Paris authorities announced that the start date would be pushed back to 2024, as more preparation time was needed to implement the changes. They will also be conducting a full public enquiry throughout 2022.

The zone was also renamed the zone apaisée (calm zone).

The decision comes after the Paris Police préfecture, which has joint responsibility for the project along with City Hall, published a letter saying they did not support the immediate introduction of the plans due to concerns about access for emergency services, as well as the economic impact on the city.

An exact date for the introduction in 2024 has not been set, but Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said it will start at the beginning of 2024, ahead the Paris Olympics, which will be held in July and August.

What?

The plans as envisaged by City Hall don’t constitute a complete ban on all vehicles in the city centre, and there are many exceptions.

The main target is through traffic – vehicles driving through the central zone on their way to another part of the city – which according to David Belliard, the Paris deputy mayor in charge of transportation, accounts for 50 percent of all traffic in the city centre.

There will be exemptions for people who live in the central zones to use cars, as well as allowances for delivery drivers, the disabled, taxis, VTC vehicles such as Uber, buses and car-sharing.

Also allowed in will be people whose “destination is the calm zone” – Belliard explained: “If I live there, if I work there, if I go to the cinema, to see friends, or to a shop… All this will be allowed.”

The zone will be enforced by both police checks at the entry and exit of the zone and also by more technical means such as number-plate recognition cameras for residents, although City Hall concedes that much will depend on “self regulation” of people following the rules.

Even with all the above exemptions, City Hall estimate that their plans will cut around 250,000 journeys a day.

Do Parisians support it?

Some do, some don’t. According to City Hall, 78 percent of people who answered their online and paper surveys (around 7,500 people) support the concept of limiting city-centre traffic.

But the project has also drawn vociferous criticism from many, who claim it will simply push traffic out to the less central arrondissements – which are less wealthy and attract fewer tourists – in effect simply moving the problem. The mayors of the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements, which lie just outside the zone, are opposed to it.

Opponents also claim it will unfairly target commuters from the outer suburbs, where public transport is often poor.

The scheme is part of a long-running effort from Paris authorities to make the city centre less polluted and more car and pedestrian friendly which has included pedestrianising the Quais along the Seine, barring traffic on certain roads such as the Rue de Rivoli and adding extra cycle lanes throughout the city centre. 

Banning older cars

In addition to the city-centre ban, Paris authorities are also phasing in restrictions on older and more polluting vehicles, based on the Crit-Air sticker system.

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