Paris Métro Line 18 is one of four new lines of

Grand Paris Express The Grand Paris Express (; GPE) is a project consisting of new rapid transit lines and the extension of existing lines being built in the Île-de-France region of France. The project comprises four new lines for the Paris Métro, plus extensions ...

, a major expansion project of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

. Currently under construction, it will link

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (, ) is one of two international airports serving Paris, France, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris. It serves as a sec ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

via , the Saclay Plateau, and

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines () is a new town and an agglomeration community in the French department of Yvelines. It is one of the original five villes nouvelles ( new towns) of Paris and was named after the Saint Quentin Pond, which was chosen ...

. The line will be long and will be fully automated (along with all Grand Paris Express lines). Subsequently, it is planned to be extended by about from Versailles to

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

via . It is expected to be completed after 2030. Its first section, from Orly Airport to the Saclay plateau (Christ de Saclay), is scheduled to open in 2026 between the stations of Massy-Palaiseau and Christ de Saclay, in 2027 between Massy-Palaiseau and Orly Airport, and in 2030 between Christ de Saclay and Versailles Chantiers. One of the line's aims is to serve the technological and scientific development cluster of

Paris-Saclay Paris-Saclay is a research-intensive and business cluster currently under construction in the south of Paris, France. It encompasses research facilities, two French major universities with higher education institutions (''grandes écoles'') and ...

and the campus of

Paris-Saclay University Paris-Saclay University (, ) is a combined technological research institute and public research university in Orsay, France. Paris-Saclay was established in 2019 after the merger of four technical ''grandes écoles,'' as well as several technol ...

. Project management for engineering and stations has been entrusted to the Icare group, led by Ingérop Consulting and Engineering, with several architectural firms for the various stations of the section while the systems are under the responsibility by Egis Rail.The Société du Grand Paris has chosen the prime contractors and architects of the line 18 du Grand Paris Express
"Société du Grand Paris", 15 February 2016. The

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

and the overhead stations are entrusted to the Benthem Crouwel group. It will be the only metro line of the Grand Paris Express that will serve the department of Yvelines with three stations in two municipalities: the station of Versailles-Chantiers and that of Satory will be located at

and the Saint-Quentin Est station will be located at

Guyancourt Guyancourt () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero ...

. __TOC__

History

Line 18 is the result of the

Grand Paris The Metropolis of Greater Paris (, ),There is an English translation. also known as Greater Paris, is a ''métropole'' covering the Paris, City of Paris and its nearest surrounding suburbs that was created from Sarkozy's renovation of the city. ...

public transport network project, presented by the President of the Republic

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

in 2009. This provided for a large gauge green line connecting

to Roissy via

Saclay Saclay () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is best known for the large scientific facility CEA Saclay, mostly dealing with nuclear and particle physics. Population Inhabit ...

and

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

. The green line is then included in the

project with a terminus this time fixed at

, with entry into service then envisaged between 2025 and 2030. On 6 March 2013, the Prime Minister

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 ...

unveils the map of the future network of the Nouveau Grand Paris (new name of the Grand Paris Express), on which appears for the first time the denomination of "line 18". Its route is then limited to the section – Versailles-Chantiers, the future of the section to

becoming uncertain. A variant of the route making it possible to serve the

Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (, ; UVSQ), also known as Paris-Saclay University (), is a French public university created in 1991, located in the Departments of France, department of Yvelines and, since 2002, in Hauts-de-Sein ...

was being considered, but was subsequently abandoned in favor of a more direct route. It is also on this occasion that the choice of a metro with an appropriate gauge is indicated, in view of the expected ridership which does not justify trains as large as on the other lines. In 2014, Prime Minister

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

announced that the sections ''CEA Saint-Aubin'' –'' Massy – Palaiseau ''and'' Massy – Palaiseau'' –'' Aéroport d'Orly'' would be effective from 2024, the line having to be ready in time to serve the site envisaged for the

Universal Exhibition of 2025 Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

. The reinforced consultation on the line 18 project (section ''Orly Airport'' – ''Versailles-Chantiers '') took place from 12 May to 12 June 2015.Line 18 in consultation
'' Société du Grand Paris '' The public investigation file was sent to the regional prefect by the SGP in the summer of 2015, for an investigation from 21 March to 26 April 2016.Press kit of the Interministerial Committee on Grand Paris of April 14, 2015
, page 7, accessed 17 April 2015. Line 18 is declared of public utility on 28 March 2017., published in the "Official Journal" n ° 0076 of 30 March 2017, on '' legifrance.gouv.fr '', consulted on 30 March 2017. In January 2018, Prime Minister

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 202 ...

announced the withdrawal of the French candidacy for the organization of the

. It was then envisaged that a first section from Massy-Palaiseau to CEA Saint-Aubin be put into service from 2026. On 15 May 2020, the Société du Grand Paris awarded Vinci Construction the first civil engineering contract for the , for an amount of 800 million euros: it concerns the section from Orly to the Saclay plateau. From Monday 15 June to Friday 17 July 2020, an additional public inquiry is carried out, to obtain an amending declaration of public utility, allowing the declaration of public utility to be made compatible with the town planning documents of Orsay, Palaiseau and Wissous.

Calendar

Line 18 is planned to be put into service in the following stages: * in October 2026, for the section from to , * at the end of 2027, for the section from to , * by 2030, for the section from to . For an opening after 2030, an extension from to is under study.

Specifications

The State-Region memorandum of understanding having ratified the fact that the , originally called the green line, would be an automatic metro line with suitable gauge.Protocol between the State and the Region relating to public transport in Ile-de-France
, Ministry of the City.Contribution of the State and the Region with public debates – Map of public transport networks
, Ministry of the City. the type of rolling stock that will circulate there will be an automatic metro, running on iron. The cars will have a width of approximately (a size similar to that of the current Paris metro) and the trains will be composed of three or four cars which can accommodate 350 travelers by train. The trains will be supplied by a third rail in 1500 V, unlike lines 15, 16 and 17.en-mouvement-ligne-18 / meeting-from-May-12-to-June-12-2015-to know Meet-up from May 12 to June 12, 2015 to find out more
'' Société du Grand Paris' '.

Construction

Preparatory work

Preparatory works (relocation of networks) started in January 2018 at the future station ''Massy Opéra ''./ gpe / actualite / massy-displacement-of-underground-existing-networks-1636 Massy: displacement of existing underground networks
Société du Grand Paris, 10 January 2018.

Construction work

The market for the construction of the tunnel, stations and service works between the future station Aéroport d'Orly and the Saclay plateau, beyond the Massy station. Palaiseau was awarded in May 2020 to a consortium made up of Vinci Construction Grands Projets,

Spie Batignolles Spie Batignolles is a French construction company based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The company provides building and infrastructure construction in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. Company history Ernest Goüin fou ...

Civil Engineering, Dodin Campenon-Bernard, Vinci Construction France, Spie Batignolles Foundations and Boots Foundations. The amount of the contract is EUR 799 million excluding taxes. This contract includes the construction of of tunnel which will be dug by two tunnel boring machines, the construction of the Antonypôle, Massy Opéra and Massy-Palaiseau stations, as well as the crossing of the future Aéroport d'Orly, already under construction, and 13 works of service east of the line.

Line 18 tunnel boring machines

Two tunnel boring machines will be used to dig the tunnel of the eastern section of Line 18 between Aéroport d'Orly and the Saclay plateau.

Tracks and stations

Plot

With a length of , line 18 has an underground section of approximately (61% of the line) and an overhead section of (39% of line). The line starts underground at

to the south-east at the limit of the departments of

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

, under the car parks between the west and south terminals. The station is in correspondence with the Line 14 (which is parallel to it) and is extended by a rear station. The route heads north and passes under the airport runways before turning west. It crosses the municipality of Wissous without stopping, passes under the A6 and A10 highways and then turns slightly south before turning serve the station "Antonypôle" located in the town of

Antony, Hauts-de-Seine Antony () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Antony is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and the seat of the arrondissement o ...

. Entering the territory of the municipality of Massy, the line then serves "Massy Opéra" then passes under the

LGV Atlantique The LGV Atlantique (; ) is a high-speed rail line running from Gare Montparnasse in Paris towards the Atlantic coast of France. It opened in 1989–1990 and has two intermediate stations: Massy TGV station and Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV s ...

before coming into line with the beam train from Massy – Palaiseau. It then serves the station of the same name where it connects with the

RER B RER B is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its Île-de-France suburbs. The RER B line crosses the region from no ...

RER C RER C is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south. Briefly, betwe ...

and TGV station. The line slants again towards the west and enters the town of

Palaiseau Palaiseau () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Palaiseau is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Palaiseau. Palaiseau was a royal doma ...

before passing under the D36 then coming to stand parallel to the latter at the level of the district "Camille-Claudel." At this point the line becomes aerial and is inserted into a viaduct. It goes beyond the connection to the future Palaiseau maintenance workshop, bypasses the

École polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

then serves after a curve and a counter-curve the air station of "Palaiseau". The viaduct then heads south, crosses N118 and serves the ''Orsay-Gif ''station located at the limit of

Orsay Orsay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. A fortifie ...

Gif-sur-Yvette Gif-sur-Yvette (, "Gif-on- Yvette") is a commune in southwestern Île-de-France, France. It is located in the Vallée de Chevreuse, from the centre of Paris (at Notre-Dame), in the Essonne department on the departmental border with Yvelin ...

and Saint-Aubin. The route then heads due north then north-west along N118 and serves the ''CEA Saint-Aubin ''station in

. The line then turns towards the west and crosses a long inter-station still in the air along the D36. It crosses the municipalities of Villiers-le-Bâcle and Châteaufort, marking the entry of the line into

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.National Golf of

Magny-les-Hameaux Magny-les-Hameaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Population Education There are four preschools: Ecole Francis Jammes, Ecole André Gide, Ecole Petit Prince, and Ecole Jean Ba ...

and finds its course underground. The tunnel heads north-east and serves the underground station of "Saint-Quentin Est" at

. It crosses Guyancourt then oblique towards the east and arrives at the station "Satory" located at

. Finally, the line passes under N12 and heads north-east before running alongside the railway tracks and arriving at the terminus of Versailles – Chantiers where it connects to

and

Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail and tram-train network operated by SNCF and serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of lines Transilien Line H, H, Transilie ...

s U and N.

Phase 1

Complete Line

Operations center

An operations center playing the role of maintenance and storage site for trains is planned at

, along the departmental route 36, near the École Polytechnique campus. Earthworks, carried out by

Eiffage Eiffage S.A. () is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe. History The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing comp ...

, begin in 3rd quarter 2020.

Reception

Many local criticisms have been voiced regarding this project. Thus, residents and elected officials of the municipalities crossed by the aerial metro ask that it be buried. In addition, the inhabitants of Wissous, a town located between Antony and

, crossed by the line but not served by it, in fact feel forgotten by the project. The most important criticisms come from expert opinions outside the field of local democracy, pointing out in particular a gap difficult to justify between the dimensioning of this infrastructure and the flows that it would accommodate in view of the tools of territorial analysis and flow simulation. . Indeed, the justification of the line 18 project within the overall public transport network project of Greater Paris presented in 2009–2010 was that of the connection of employment centers among them, which would imply a significant flow between them. However, "'' connections between job centers in Île-de-France only represent 3% of transport needs ''". In addition, the analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of the territories crossed shows that we have in the Orly pole "'' a high proportion of workers "on the spot", that is to say holding a job. in their commune of residence'' ", and that in the centers of Massy and Versailles," "trips are much more made internally than to an external basin" ". Thus, from 2015, the General Investment Commission (CGI) issued an unfavorable opinion for line 18, in its Saclay-Versailles section. The FNAUT Île-de-France transport users association considers as AUT / FNAUT Île-de-France therefore wishes that an opinion be rendered unfavorable to the public utility of this line. In 2017, it renews its criticisms on the oversizing of the and considers that a tram-type service could be sufficient for the latter. According to Pascal Auzannet, former senior official in charge of reflections on the Grand Paris metro project within RATP in the 2010s, it would be wiser to extend the 7.3 kilometers from the Orlyval to the Saclay plateau. Indeed, with a transport capacity at peak hour greater than 7500 passengers, this possibility is compatible with the traffic forecasts presented in 2016 during a public inquiry. In an interview with the Public Establishment in charge of the development of the urban project of the Saclay plateau, subsequent to the publication of the book, he generalizes this comment by indicating: “'' The choice of a metro (rather than simple buses on specific sites) was therefore fully justified, but was there a need for a heavy metro, as on the other lines, with the risk of overcapacity? Personally, I have always thought that the initial option was oversized. (...) at the beginning, we envisaged capacities of 40,000 passengers in each direction of traffic, while demand by 2030 should not exceed 5–6,000''”. On 22 June 2018, during a conference of "Professional Groups of Arts and Crafts", Jean-Marc Jancovici, speaking of the carbon impact of the various infrastructures, said: “''Line 18 ��will never refund its initial carbon, so if we want to do it his projecton the grounds of carbon, we must not do it''". In July 2018, the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

rejected the requests of several communities and associations for the defense of the environment and validated the declaration of public utility. In July 2020 during the last public inquiry into the project, FNAUT Île-de-France Transport Users Association pointed out in a message posted on the microblogging network Twitter that the socio-economic profitability of this line has been revised upwards in an unexplained manner.

Development projects

The creation of a Camille-Claudel station

Since 2015, elected officials and residents in

have mobilized for the construction of a new metro station next to the new eco-district of '' Camille-Claudel ''which is to house 4,000 inhabitants. This station would be located between the ''Massy-Palaiseau'' and'' Palaiseau'' stops, at the point where the line emerges from the ground to run on a viaduct. The report of the Public Inquiry Commission of 2016 recommended that a land reserve be set up for the possible realization of this project after the opening of the line. The amending DUP investigated from 15 June to 17 July 2020 took this recommendation into account by modifying the profile of the line in the Palaiseau sector. A long landing is thus planned between the emergence of the tunnel and the viaduct to allow for the construction of a future station.

Extension to the north

The line is envisaged to be extended from Versailles to Nanterre beyond 2030. As of 2019 this extension is not funded.

Towards an extension to the east

During the meeting of the steering committee of the Orly Airport station, on 3 May 2016, the Grand Paris company announced that in order not to mortgage the future, protective measures will be taken at the station Aéroport d'Orly to create a possible extension to the east of the line beyond 2030. This measure is taken after requests from local elected officials of Val-de-Marne and Essonne to connect , located on

RER D RER D is one of the five lines in the (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south, with all trains serving a group of stat ...

, to the Orly Airport area to facilitate its access. Other elected officials want the extension to go to , located on

RER A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving the city and suburbs of Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List o ...

, to the same reasons. Finally, the department of Val-de-Marne via the Orbival association will mobilize elected officials to reflect on this extension. The public inquiry commission recommends during its publication of 13 July 2016 that the Aéroport d'Orly station be built in such a way as to make possible an extension to

Tourism

Line 18 will serve several notable points of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

: * the

; * the Saclay plateau and its universities; * the new town of

in the town of

; * the city of

Rolling Stock

The proposed rolling stock for line 18 is the MRV (Matériel Roulant Voyageurs), a new automated design with a width of , using conventional steel wheel on steel rail technology and third rail electrification. Alstom has been chosen to build these trains.