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The (; ), commonly abbreviated RER (), is a hybrid
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
and
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
system serving
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and its
suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
. It acts as a combined city-center underground rail system and suburbs-to-city-center commuter rail, similar to the
Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...
in London,
S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
in German-speaking countries and the S Lines in Milan. Conceived of as a ('express metro') during the mid-1930s, the scheme was revived in the 1950s and construction began in the early 1960s. The RER was not fully conceptualised until the completion of the (roughly: 'master plan for urban development') in 1965. The RER network, which initially comprised two lines, was formally inaugurated on 8 December 1977 in a ceremony that was attended by President
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...
. A second phase of construction commenced at the end of the 1970s which saw additional lines constructed along with extensions to the original two. The RER is operated partly by RATP, the authority that operates most of the public transport in Paris, and partly by the
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
, France's national rail operator. As of 2023, the network consists of five lines: A, B, C, D and E. The network has 257 stations and has interchanges with the Métro and
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
within the City of Paris and the suburbs. The lines are identified by letters to avoid confusion with the Métro lines, which are identified by numbers. The network is still expanding: RER E, which opened in 1999, is planned for westward extension toward
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 ...
and
Mantes-la-Jolie Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, f ...
in two phases by 2024–2026. The performance of the RER has made it a model for proposals to improve transit within other cities. In November 2022, French President
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
announced the creation of additional RERs that will serve the ten largest French metropolises by 2040.


Characteristics

The RER contains 257 stations, 33 of which are within the city of Paris, and runs over of track, including underground. Each line passes through the city almost wholly underground and on tracks dedicated to the RER, but some city center tracks are shared between line D and line B. The RER is operated partly by RATP, the authority that operates most public transport in Paris, and partly by
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
, the national rail operator.Blakely 1993, p. 17. The system, which is structured in a traditional radial arrangement, operates a through-service and uses a single fare model that works seamlessly with several other public transit systems.Blakely 1993, pp. 51, 57. Total traffic on the central sections of lines A and B, operated by RATP, was 452 million people in 2006; in the same year, total traffic on all Paris area commuter lines operated by SNCF (both RER and
Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail and tram-train network operated by SNCF and serving ÃŽle-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of lines Transilien Line H, H, Transilie ...
trains) was 657 million. RATP manages 65 RER stations, including all stations on Line A east of Nanterre-Préfecture and those on the branch to
Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
. It also operates stations on Line B south of
Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...
. Other stations on the two lines and those on lines C, D and E are operated by SNCF. Of the RER stations operated by RATP, 9 have interchanges with Métro lines, and 9 allow transfer to SNCF's Transilien service. In comparison to the Metro, the RER provides better coverage of Paris' suburbs and typically operates at higher speeds and with greater distances between stations. Within the city center, RER services practice limited stop operations.


History


Origins

Its roots are in the 1936 '' Ruhlmann– Langewin'' plan of the (Metropolitan Railway Company of Paris) for a "" (express metro). The company's post-war successor, RATP, revived the scheme in the 1950s, and in 1960 an interministerial committee decided to go ahead with the construction of an east–west line. Subsequently, the central part of the RER was completed between 1962 and 1977 in a large-scale civil engineering project whose chief supervisor was Siavash Teimouri. The construction of the RER was a major undertaking, being highly visible to both Parisians and visiting tourists at various sites across the city for an extended period. As its instigator, RATP was granted authority to run the new link. The embryonic (and as yet unnamed) RER was not properly conceived until the 1965 (roughly: 'master plan for urban development'), which envisioned an H-shaped network with two north–south routes. Between 1969 and 1970, RATP purchased the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines from SNCF, as the basis for the east–west link. Only a single north–south route crossing the
Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...
has so far come to fruition, although the Métro's line 13 has been extended to perform a similar function. The RER's first phase of construction during the 1960s and 1970s was marked by scale and expense. In 1973 alone, FRF 2 billion were committed to the project in the budget, equating to roughly €1.37 billion in 2005 terms, and closer to double that as a proportion of the region's (then much smaller) economic output. The construction cost was controversial at the time of its construction. This initial investment, along with subsequent spending, was partly financed by the '' versement transport'', a local tax levied on businesses that was introduced in July 1971. It has remained in effect into the twenty-first century.


First phase

During the first phase of construction, the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines became the ends of the east-west Line A, the central section of which was opened station by station between 1969 and 1977. On its completion, Line A was joined by the initial southern section of the north-south Line B. Both Lines A and B were intentionally designed to converge with as many of the existing commuter lines as possible as to maximise its usefulness to existing travelers.Blakely 1993, p. 11. During this first phase, six new stations were built, three of which are entirely underground. Construction was inaugurated by Robert Buron, then Minister for Public Works, at the Pont de Neuilly on 6 July 1961, four years before the publication of the official network blueprint. The rapid expansion of the
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 ...
business district in the west made the western section of the first line a priority.
Nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...
, the first new station, was opened on 12 December 1969 and became for the next 8 years the new western terminus of the Vincennes line. The section from Étoile (not yet renamed after
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
) to was opened a few weeks later. It was later extended eastward to the newly built on 23 November 1971, and westward to
Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
on 1 October 1972. The latter extension was achieved by a connection to the existing Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, the oldest railway line into Paris, at
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 ...
. The RER network was inaugurated on 8 December 1977 with the joining of the eastern - Boissy segment and the western – segment at . The inauguration was attended by President
Valery Giscard D'Estaing Valery () is a male given name and occasional surname. It is derived from the Latin name '' Valerius''. The Slavic given name Valeriy or Valeri is prevalent in Russia and derives directly from the Latin. Given name * Valery Afanassiev, Russian ...
. The southern ''
Ligne de Sceaux The Ligne de Sceaux (, ''Sceaux Line)'' was a railway line in France running from Paris, which initially linked the Place Denfert-Rochereau (then called the ''Place d'Enfer'', in Paris, to the town of Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, Sceaux. The line ori ...
'' was simultaneously extended from
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
to meet Line A at ''Châtelet – Les Halles'', becoming the new Line B. The system of line letters was introduced to the public on this occasion, though it had been used internally by RATP and SNCF for some time.


Second phase

A second phase of construction commenced at the end of the 1970s, which was carried out at a slower pace than the first phase. SNCF gained the authorisation to operate its own routes, which became lines C, D and E. Extensive sections of suburban tracks were added to the network, but only four new stations were built. During 1979, Line C (along the Left Bank of the Seine) was added, although it almost entirely comprised existing SNCF lines. The main civil engineering works performed involved the construction of a connecting link between
Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old sold ...
and
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...
. In 1981, Line B was extended through to Gare du Nord via a new deep tunnel from Châtelet – Les Halles. It was later extended further northward. By 1992, a total of 233 miles of track was operational, while a further 94 miles were under construction. During 1995, Line D (north to south-east via Châtelet – Les Halles) was completed; its primary feature was a purpose-built deep tunnel between Châtelet – Les Halles and
Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris Gare de Lyon (), is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and ...
. No new building work was necessary at Châtelet – Les Halles, as additional platforms for Line D had been built at the time of the station's construction 20 years earlier. In 1999, Line E was added to the network, connecting the north-east with
Gare Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (; ), officially Paris Saint Lazare, is one of the seven large mainline List of Paris railway stations, railway station terminals in Paris, France. It was the first railway station built in Paris, opening in 1837. It mostly ...
by means of a new deep tunnel from
Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris Est, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...
.


Maps


Rolling stock

The predominance of suburban SNCF track on the RER network explains why RER trains use
overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...
power and run on the left, like SNCF trains (except in Alsace-Moselle), contrary to the Métro where trains use
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...
power and run on the right. RER trains run by the two different operators share the same track infrastructure, a practice called interconnection. On the RER, interconnection required the development of specific trains ( MI 79 series for 1979, and MI 2N series for (double-deck interconnection stock)) capable of operating under both 1.5 kV direct current on the RATP network and 25 kV / 50 Hz alternating current on the SNCF network. The MS 61 series () can be used only on the 1.5 kV DC network. The RER's tunnels have unusually large cross-sections. This is due to a 1961 decision to build them according to a
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
standard created by the (UIC), with space for overhead
catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...
power supply to trains. Single-track tunnels measure across and double-track tunnels up to , meaning a cross-sectional area of up to , larger than that of the on many comparable underground rail networks. The first RER rolling stock in fact predated the formation of the RER by 40 years, with the Z 23000 stock used on the (which was thereafter integrated into
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 ...
) from 1937 until 27 February 1987. In 1965 the Z 5300 train was introduced, followed by the MS 61 in 1967, MI 79 in 1980, MI 84 and Z 8800 in 1985, Z 20500 in 1988, MI 2N in 1996, Z 20900 in 2001,
MI 09 The MI 09 (French: ''Matériel d'Interconnexion de 2009'', English: ''interconnection rolling stock of 2009'') is a double-deck, dual-voltage electric multiple unit trainset that is operated on line A of the Réseau Express Régional (RER), a ...
on 5 December 2011, Z 50000 (Francilien) in 2015 and Regio 2N (Z 57000) in 2019. In 2017, it was announced that an consortium comprising
Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...
and
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...
had been selected to supply 255 X’Trapolis Cityduplex double-deck
electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...
s to replace aging rolling stock on both lines D and E under a €3.75 billion arrangement. In April 2023, 60 additional Cityduplexs were ordered to increase service frequency. Many services are performed by double-decker train sets, usually operating in double formations. File:Z-22901-idfm-versailles-chantiers.jpg, Z 20900 at Versailles Chantiers (
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 ...
) File:Z 57000 (Regio 2N) IDF Mobilités Ligne R.jpg, Z 57000 at Paris Gare de Lyon (
Transilien Line R Transilien Line R is a railway line of the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this line travel between Paris-Gare-de-Lyon in central Paris, as well as from Gare de Melun, Melun station in the suburbs, and the south-east of ÃŽ ...
and RER D) File:Z50000 IDFM et SNCF Carmillon.jpg, Z 50000 (
RER E RER E 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 travels between western and eastern suburbs, with all ...
and Transilien Line P) File:Ligne de Nanterre a Sartrouville - Viaduc de Nanterre - MI09 - Avril 2012 (4) cropped.jpg,
MI 09 The MI 09 (French: ''Matériel d'Interconnexion de 2009'', English: ''interconnection rolling stock of 2009'') is a double-deck, dual-voltage electric multiple unit trainset that is operated on line A of the Réseau Express Régional (RER), a ...
(
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 ...
) File:MI79-R 8292 1.jpg, MI 79 renovated (
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 ...
) File:Gare de Corbeil-Essonnes - 2021-07-08 - IMG 7373.jpg, Z 20500 at Corbeil-Essonnes ( RER D) File:Gare de Vauboyen - 2021-09-23 - IMG 0034.jpg, Z 20900 at Vauboyen (
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 ...
) File:Gare Bourron-Marlotte - Grez IMG 8615.jpg, Z 5600 at Bourron-Marlotte - Grez (
Transilien Line R Transilien Line R is a railway line of the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this line travel between Paris-Gare-de-Lyon in central Paris, as well as from Gare de Melun, Melun station in the suburbs, and the south-east of ÃŽ ...
and
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 ...
) File:RER A - Gare AchèresVille 21.JPG, Altéo at Achères-Ville (
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 ...
) File:RER E - Gare Chelles 4Bis.JPG, Z 22500 at Chelles-Gournay (
RER E RER E 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 travels between western and eastern suburbs, with all ...
)


Lines


Stations

Ten new stations have been built under the heart of Paris since the 1960s as part of the RER project. The six stations of Line A opened between 1969 and 1977 are: * (1969): deep construction at the . * (1970): deep construction at the
Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...
. * (1970): near-surface construction beneath the site of the yet-to-be-built Grande Arche de la Défense, just outside the Paris city boundary. * (1971): deep construction near
Gare Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (; ), officially Paris Saint Lazare, is one of the seven large mainline List of Paris railway stations, railway station terminals in Paris, France. It was the first railway station built in Paris, opening in 1837. It mostly ...
. * (1977): near-surface construction on the site of the former marketplace, claimed in 2017 to be the largest underground station in Europe. *
Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris Gare de Lyon (), is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and ...
(1977): near-surface construction beneath and alongside the main-line SNCF station. Some controversy followed the construction of the Line A. Using the model of the existing Métro, and unlike any other underground network in the world, engineers elected to build the three new deep stations ( Étoile, and ) as single monolithic halls with lateral platforms and no supporting pillars. A hybrid solution of adjacent halls was rejected on the grounds that it "completely sacrificed the architectural aspect" of the oeuvre. The scale in question was vast: the new were up to three times longer, wider and taller than Métro stations, and hence 20 or 30 times more voluminous. Most importantly, unlike the Métro they were to be constructed deep underground. The decision turned out to be expensive: around 8 billion francs for the three stations, equivalent to €1.2 billion in 2005 terms, with the two-level the costliest of the three. The comparison was obvious and unfavourable with London's
Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in South London, and in the east, via the West End of London, West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run comp ...
, a deep line of constructed during the same period using a two-tunnel approach at vastly lower cost though with a lower capacity. However, the three stations represent undeniable engineering feats and are noticeably less claustrophobic than traditional underground stations. Only two stations were inaugurated to complete Lines B, C and D: *
Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...
(1982): near-surface construction on two levels. * St-Michel – Notre-Dame (1988): deep construction on an existing stretch of the Line B between
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
and Châtelet – Les Halles with two tunnels, common in other underground systems but unique in Paris. The station is situated on and built at the same time as the
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
Châtelet tunnel. Two stations were added to the network as part of Line E in the 1990s. They are notable for their lavishly spacious deep construction, a technique not used since . Although similar to the three 1960s "cathedral stations" of Line A, their passenger traffic has so far proved vastly lower. * (1999): deep construction serving both and
Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris Est, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...
. * (1999): deep construction serving
Gare Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (; ), officially Paris Saint Lazare, is one of the seven large mainline List of Paris railway stations, railway station terminals in Paris, France. It was the first railway station built in Paris, opening in 1837. It mostly ...
and ''Auber''.


Usage

Journey times, particularly on east-west and north-south routes, have been reduced by the RER; in combination with the cross-platform connection at Châtelet – Les Halles, even certain "diagonal" trips have reduced journey times. Typically being used for leisure journeys, the RER has made a significant social impact. By bringing far-flung suburbs within easy reach of central Paris, the network has aided the reintegration of the traditionally insular capital with its periphery. Evidence of this social impact can be seen at Châtelet – Les Halles, whose neighbourhood and Forum des Halles leisure and shopping facilities are popular among , in particular from eastern suburbs. Lines A and B reached saturation relatively quickly, exceeding by far all traffic expectations: up to 55,000 passengers per hour in each direction on Line A (1992), the highest such figure outside of East Asia. Despite a frequency of more than one train every two minutes, made possible by the installation of digital signalling in 1989, and the gradual introduction of double-decker trains from 1998 to 2017, the central stations of Line A are critically crowded at peak times. In June 2015, a contract valued at €20 million was awarded to Alstom Transport to develop and install an
automatic train operation Automatic train operation (ATO) is a method of operating trains automatically where the driver is not required or is required for supervision at most. Alternatively, ATO can be defined as a subsystem within the automatic train control, which pe ...
(ATO) system 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 ...
; at the time, this line was the most heavily frequented regional line in Europe, the introduction of ATO enabled increased service frequency and improved performance to be achieved. The RER has a substantial impact on the suburban areas of greater Paris, specifically on land values near the stations along its lines. The RER has received criticism for its high level of particle pollution during busy periods, largely due to train braking. Pollution by
PM10 Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate matter alone, though it is sometimes defined ...
particles regularly reaches 400 Î¼g/m3 at , much more than at neighboring metro stations and eight times the
EU Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of members of the Commission ( directorial system, informally known as "commissioners") corresponding t ...
's daily average limit EU Directive
1999/30/EC, Annex III
an
96/62/EC, the Air Quality Framework Directive
/ref> of 50 Î¼g/m3.


See also

*
List of metro systems This list of metro systems includes electrified rapid transit train systems worldwide. In some parts of the world, metro systems are referred to as subways, undergrounds, tubes, mass rapid transit (MRT), metrô or U-Bahn. 204 cities in 65 cou ...
* List of RER stations * List of Paris Métro stations * Réseau Express de l'Aire urbaine Lyonnaise * Transport in France * Île-de-France tramway Line 11 Express *
S-train The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
* Réseau Ferré National * Grigny to Corbeil-Essonnes line


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading

*


External links


RATP
(official, in )
RATP
(official, in )
Interactive Map of the RER
(from RATP's website)
Interactive Map of the Paris métro
(from RATP's website)
Complete track map of the RER system
by Franklin Jarrier, 10 November 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Reseau Express Regional Electric railways in France RATP Group Underground commuter rail