FOCUS- Since the start of the school year in September, the hassle of Ile-de-France transport users has been obvious. Some lines are particularly affected.
Since the start of the school year in September, many users of public transport in the Ile-de-France region have deplored a deterioration in their travel conditions. Longer waiting times, crowded metros or buses… The development of teleworking is far from having put an end to the galleys of travelers in Ile-de-France. But depending on the lines taken, users are not all in the same boat. Le Figaro make the point.
In the subway
On the subway,the attendance goes up: depending on the day we are between 88 and 90% attendance rate“, we say to the RATP. At the end of September 2022, two lines had already regained their 2019 level of attendance, according to data from Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM): line 11 (97%) and line 14 (99%) . The Ile-de-France transport authority specifies that these levels are overestimated: on line 11, “the interruption of traffic between Châtelet and Hôtel de Villein 2019 plays, and on line 14, the “extension to Saint-Ouen Town Hallin 2022 disturbs the readings.
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Behind, in the ranking of the busiest lines, we find line 8 (87%), lines 7 and 12 (86%), line 10 (85%), lines 1, 6 and 9 (83%) and lines 3 and 5 (82%). The other lines still have 20% fewer passengers compared to 2019.
Attendance levels to be compared with the transport offer. On the one hand, the supply ordered by IDFM from RATP remains at 98% of its pre-Covid level. If a few days ago, IDFM assumed this reduced offer – “The number of travelers has not returned to 100% on all lines, and we are careful with our budget“, we were told -, the boss of the region, Valérie Pécresse, finally called Monday in The Parisian to a return to 100% of the pre-Covid offer on the metro. Today, only four lines have regained 100% ordered supply, according to the RATP: 7, 9, 13 and 14. The lines that have lost the most in metro frequency ordered, on the contrary, are the 11, 12 and 3bis.
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In reality, the supply of metros, ordered and financed by Île-de-France Mobilités, is far from being respected. “RATP was unable to produce the requested service, that’s the reality“, taunted Valérie Pécresse in The Parisian Monday. The numbers back him up. At peak times, the regularity rate of the metros was only displayed at 93.3% on average in September – against 96.5% ordered -, according to the latest figures from IDFM. The worst students are line 6 (84.3%), line 4 (86.5%) and line 13 (87.3%). Conversely, lines 14 and 1, which are automated, operate without a hitch.
On the RER and in suburban trains
Attendance is lower on the RER and suburban trains, the Transilien. On these lines,we found between 80 and 85% of the attendance of 2019“, we say on the side of SNCF Voyageurs. There, too, there are significant differences depending on the lines. At the end of September, the RER C thus recorded more travelers than at the beginning of the Covid, but this rate would be overestimated, according to IDFM: “In 2019, several stations were under construction, moreover the number of validators increased between 2019 and 2022, which led to an artificial increase in the attendance rate for 2022 by 15 to 20 points“, we explain.
At the end of September, the other RER lines peaked at 90% of their pre-Covid level. On the Transilien lines, the J and the P are those on which attendance is closest to a return to normal (respectively 95% and 93% attendance).
In September, it was the users of lines B and D who waited the most on the RER platforms. Punctuality peaked at 82.5% on the first, and 83.8% on the second, still according to data from IDFM. On the Transilien network, lines P, L and R were the least punctual, behind H and K.
The trains still have to arrive. Because the lack of drivers leads to train cancellations on certain lines. The most affected being line C of the RER, on which, at the beginning of September, 19 trains per day were removed. If, at the beginning of October, 6 trains were added, there are still 13 trains per day short of normal. Deletions have also affected lines J and L in recent weeks.
On the bus and trams
On the bus and tram, line-by-line data on attendance or punctuality are fragmented. On the bus lines operated by the RATP, “25%of the contractual service ordered by IDFM is not carried out, repeated Valérie Pécresse at Parisian Monday.
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On the tramway, 98% of the supply ordered was carried out at the end of September 2022, according to data from IDFM. As for punctuality, the figures for the lines operated by the SNCF show a T4 line more often late (88.3% punctuality at the end of September) than the T11 line (97%).