pharaonic works will affect the daily lives of millions of users in Ile-de-France in 2023

The year 2023 will be the year of all records for work on the rails in Ile-de-France. Users will have to be more patient in transport. Never before have so many worksites been scheduled in such a short time on this network, one of the densest in the world, along with those of London and Tokyo. Ile-de-France residents alone represent 70% of national passenger traffic for the SNCF. “It will cut everywhere”warns Laurent Souvigné, about the RER B in particular, of which he directs the southern part for the RATP.

Airport
from Orly

Airport

CDG2

Station

North

Defense

Massy

Station

from Lyon

Station

from the east

RER A

RER A

RER A

RER A

RER B

RER B

RER B

RER C

RER A

RER E

RER C

RER C

RER C

RER E

Main works on the Transilian lines in 2023

Main works on the Transilian lines in 2023

An extra layer of new lines

In addition to the regeneration works, there are also those related to the creation of lines: the Grand Paris Express (4 new lines, 68 stations, 200 km of tracks), the CDG Express (8 km of new tracks), the extension of the RER E to the west (55 km of new and renovated tracks). The latter must open up the Yvelines and unload the RER A, the busiest line in Europe.

Gigantic work on the Massy node

The replacement of the Chartres and Gallardon bridges requires cutting RER B and C traffic for five weeks around the Massy-Verrières station. The tracks, under which TGV and cars circulate, will have to be redone. The teams will take turns day and night. The TGV line may be neutralized.

The North Zone Puzzle

The northern section of the RER B, between the Gare du Nord and Roissy airport, concentrates a multitude of construction sites which will require traffic to be interrupted in the evenings, on weekends and even, in August, very rarely, one day week. The aim is to create reversal lanes which, in the event of an incident, avoid cutting the entire line, prepare for the arrival of the CDG Express, create the interconnections of the RER with the future lines 16 and 17. ..

The essential modernization of a century-old infrastructure

Many elements of the network are very old: catenaries – those of the RER C are a hundred years old – track and signaling devices. The so-called “regeneration” works make it possible to rejuvenate the whole. The old switching stations with levers are replaced by automated stations, and grouped together in the centralized control points of the network. On the RER C, the reinforcement of the tunnel in Paris continues by a few hundred meters, as every summer for more than twenty years.

Sources: SNCF Network; RATP ; Ile-de-France Mobility; Greater Paris Society, Insee

Infographics The world : Mathilde Costil, Sylvie Gittus-Pourrias

Drawing : Marianne Pasquier

On many lines, the trains (RER or Transilien) will stop earlier in the evening: after 10 p.m., the journey will continue on board replacement buses, much less direct and slower than a train. This can sometimes last several weeks in a row. The metro is not spared. Interruptions are planned in the evening to complete the automation of line 4, extend line 11 from Mairie-des-Lilas to Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) and line 14 to Orly (Val-de- Marl).

Read also: RER E construction site: Valérie Pécresse announces a budget overrun of more than 1.7 billion euros

For more complex sites, some stations will not be served for entire weekends. And, like every year, there will be summer interruptions, essential to carry out the extraordinary work. The most spectacular, in 2023, will be the replacement of the two railway bridges centenarians, on which pass the RER B and C, near the station of Massy-Verrières, in Essonne. They span both a TGV track and the road. The operation requires the installation of one of the largest cranes in the world, to remove the old riveted steel structures and lay the new ones, which weigh 1,090 tonnes for the Gallardon bridge and 1,670 tonnes for the Chartres bridge. The RER will not run for nearly five weeks, from mid-July to mid-August, on this portion.

Rejuvenate the network

Another extremely rare event in the summer, the RER B, the second busiest line in Europe, will be completely cut from the Gare du Nord, towards Mitry-Mory (Seine-et-Marne) and Paris-Charles airport -de-Gaulle, for four days. The interruption includes one working day, Monday. A first. It may well be scheduled for the weekend of August 15, on the section of “front line workers”those who prepare the day of others, the impact is considerable: 200,000 passengers per day will have to be handled by specific buses (2,400 bus trips are planned per day). The file is closely monitored by the regional prefect.

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