The second busiest metro line in the Parisian network entered a new era: Line 4, which is over a hundred years old, is the second Paris metro line which has been converted into fully automated operation without any major interruption to traffic. The completion of this major modernisation project on 19 January 2024 comes six months before Paris will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The line is now operated exclusively using automatic driverless trains.
Line 4 is a north south axis of the Parisian network, carrying 700 000 commuters every day to some of the cities important and busiest precincts as well as tourist destinations, which were the key reasons for its automatisation. Line 4 is the French capital’s second busiest metro line. Opened in 1908, the route now has 29 stations spread over 14 kilometers between Porte de Clignancourt and Bagneux Lucie Aubrac.
Along with Line 1, Line 4 is the second line in the metro network to be automated, while the line remained fully operational. The eventual completion is following a period of mixed operation during which driver-operated trains ran alongside the automatic trains. Siemens Mobility was chosen by RATP at the end of 2015 to automate the line, three years after the successful project to automate line 1 at the end of 2012.
From 2016, the extensive works required for the automation of metro line 4 have been carried out with service continuity guaranteed and without major interruption to traffic, which was the case in the automation of line 1, too.
Siemens Mobility supplied the automation and radio systems to equip the tracks, the technical facilities and the automatic trains that run on Line 4. The implementation includes the Operation Command Center (OCC), which manages the signaling system and the traction power supply, as well as interfacing with the on-board and trackside systems (automated and radio).
The communication-based train control system (CBTC) developed by Siemens Mobility for RATP has led to a significant improvement in the performance of the service on line 4 that benefits passengers by:
- Increasing capacity
- Varying the number of trains depending on passenger levels
- Reducing the intervals between trains from 105 to 85 seconds
- Cutting traction power consumption by 17%
- Improved safety and regularity
- Greater availability of staff on the ground to assist the passengers
Extended with the opening of two new stations in January 2022, line 4 has undergone an unprecedented modernisation program over the past six years. In an impressive technical feat, passenger safety and train traffic were maintained, while platforms were raised and reinforced to accommodate the automated rolling stock. Three different types of trains are used on line 4.
The cost of automating Line 4 came to approximately €480 million totally financed by Ile-de-France Mobilités, the public transit authority in the Greater Paris region.
The next line envisaged for automatisation and driverless operation is line 13 – with an estimated completion date 2030.
A network map of Greater Paris is available here:
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