If you take the metro in Paris, you may have noticed “a further deterioration of service (…) after a slight recovery in spring 2023 » ? This is the observation made at the beginning of December by Valérie Pécresse, the president (Les Républicains) of the Ile-de-France region and Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), in a press release where she ” reminder[ait] at RATP the need to get back on track”.
Major difficulties affected the capital’s metropolitan network during the winter of 2022-2023, before an improvement on certain lines in the spring and summer. But new pitfalls arose in the fall.
The reasons are known: RATP is struggling to recruit drivers, even though it had already paused hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the efforts of the public company, it is difficult to make the profession attractive – the end of the special regime for RATP employees in 2023 is undoubtedly not entirely unrelated. It also lacks maintenance specialists, which explains the 20% fewer trains on line 8 for example, and the 10% on line 7.
If, after the confinements, the RATP and IDFM had reduced the frequency – and therefore increased the waiting time between metros –, the objectives have now been raised to the 2019 level of requirements. According to the figures communicated by IDFM, only lines 4, 6 and 14 maintain a slightly lower frequency than before – with a wait of 5 or 10 seconds longer between metros.
However, the frequency observed remains lower than before covid, on most metro lines.
Between January and November 2023, only four lines “have very satisfactory results greater than or equal to the objectives” set by contract between IDFM and RATP for the period 2021-2024 : 5, 11, 1 and 14, the last two being automated. Four others have almost reached the objective: lines 2, 4, 9 and 10.
On the other hand, line 12 is having difficulty regaining a correct frequency despite notable improvements until the summer: in November 2023, with a wait of 2 minutes and 40 seconds between two trains (even worse than in October 2023, with 2’28), she is almost at the same level as a year ago. Lines 3, 6 and 13 are “in great difficulty”, with less 85% punctuality during peak hours; on line 3, for example, the average wait is more than 2 minutes compared to the expected 1 minute and 40 seconds.