Paris transport: Will it be ready for the Olympics?

FRANCE 24 English

Paris is racing against time to get its mass transit system ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics. This week on French Connections, we take a look at the promises that have been kept and those that have fallen to the wayside. We also discuss how much metro tickets will actually cost and how politicians have been voicing concern over whether the French capital will be ready for the world's biggest sporting event.   Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00 It's time now for French Connections, our weekly look at the intricacies of life here

00:06 in France with Solange Mougin.

00:07 Hi Solange.

00:08 Hi Jeannie.

00:09 Today you are focusing on the Paris transportation system with the big question being, will it

00:13 be ready for the Summer Olympics?

00:15 Yeah, and that is really the big question at the moment.

00:18 When Paris won its bid to host the Olympics in 2017, it vowed that all of the spectators

00:23 would be able to reach the event on public transport.

00:26 And this was a way to distinguish itself from other previous games while as well keeping

00:31 the carbon footprint of the games down.

00:34 Now the question currently is how well that transportation will work.

00:38 Now another promise that is likely to be kept is the Line 14.

00:42 Automated, it doesn't run the risk of ill or even striking drivers and the transportation

00:48 minister, well, he's vowed that the extended line will be ready on time.

00:52 The commitments we have made are first the life line between the Olympics and the Paralympics,

00:57 the Line 14, extended to the north, to Saint-Denis, to the south, to Orly airport.

01:01 These are people who work day, night and weekend.

01:04 Solange, in the meantime, there is this race to get everything done on time for the Olympics,

01:09 but will it be able to handle the number of visitors who will be here this summer?

01:13 Well Paris expects an additional one million tourists, bringing the number of travellers

01:19 on mass transit to 10 million people.

01:21 But the challenge will be that thousands will be headed to the same place at the same time.

01:26 The maximum we will have is more than 60,000 people per hour on the line.

01:31 So that means per minute you have 1,000 people.

01:34 A line of 1,000 people per minute, you have a gear in there, it's a disaster.

01:39 Now to prevent bottlenecks, which Parisians know well when lines go down, certain stations

01:44 will actually be closed and the operator, the RATP, well they will increase frequency

01:49 by 15%.

01:51 They will also have 19,000 workers on call.

01:56 Many will be equipped with a translation app.

01:58 There will also be a minute by minute traffic app that people can use.

02:02 Now the operator RATP has actually doubled its hire in 2023 to meet the needs that they

02:09 think they'll have.

02:10 Okay, so a lot of promises.

02:12 Are there any promises that have been broken already?

02:15 Well initially there were supposed to be four new metro lines.

02:18 They will not be ready in time and that means travelers from the Charles de Gaulle Airport,

02:23 the main international airport, well they'll need to use the RERB line, which is widely

02:28 seen as, to use Kerstex's words, a point noir or a trouble spot, which, and that trouble

02:36 spot it's thought will not be fixed until at least 2030.

02:40 Now another promise that went out the window was free transport for ticket holders like

02:46 in London.

02:47 All right, let's talk money for a moment.

02:48 How much then are all of these tickets going to cost during the games?

02:51 Well from July 20th to September 8th, a single metro ticket will no longer cost the 2 euros

02:57 and 10 cents, but it will cost instead 4 euros per single ticket.

03:03 There will also be an unlimited fare for one single day of 16 euros as well as a 70 euro

03:09 offer for a week of travel.

03:11 Now the regional president, Valerie Pécresse, explained why there needs, she feels, to be

03:18 an increase.

03:19 It will cost us 200 million more.

03:20 Well I divided those 200 million by the number of visitors we expect and that's how we found

03:26 the right price.

03:27 But for a lot of Parisians and tourists as well, these temporary fare hikes, well they

03:32 seem unfair.

03:34 Some are even stocking up already on cheaper tickets.

03:37 I'm going to charge 3 loads of 10 tickets and that's what I'm going to do every month

03:42 to be sure to have tickets in advance.

03:44 For sure it's unfair for the tourists.

03:45 We are visiting and bringing money, I don't think it's correct.

03:49 If all the metros work, if all the elevators work for people with limited mobility, if

03:55 all the services that must involve 4 euros work, well, I doubt it.

04:00 So there's been a lot of political bickering about the city's readiness, the transport

04:04 system's readiness, with a lot of disagreement about whether or not it'll actually be good

04:08 to go.

04:09 Yeah, there's been a lot of ping-ponging of political blame and a lot of concern of

04:15 late because as most Parisians can tell you, the service is not always up to par.

04:20 How many tickets did they let pass?

04:23 At least 3 or 4, I think.

04:25 Especially now, you see, there are a few minutes left but they're full anyway.

04:28 We don't fuck this one.

04:30 During the Olympic Games, they think we won't even be able to work.

04:33 Now there have been a number of red flags among politicians with issues, with the issue

04:38 being sort of a hot potato between the state, the region and the operator RATP, which all

04:44 these three need to work together to get this done.

04:47 The Transportation Minister Clément Beaune said commuting is going to be hard-core but

04:53 has since seemed rather optimistic.

04:56 The Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, well, she created backlash when she said that we won't be

05:02 ready on time.

05:03 And then there's Jean Castex again, former Prime Minister, head of the RATP.

05:07 He blamed the problems on what he called a largely obsolete network because of a lack

05:12 of investments, including those not done by Valérie Pécresse, behind me, the head

05:18 of the region.

05:19 Meanwhile, she blames him and the RATP for a lack of drivers.

05:26 Another big question, of course, is if the authorities are going to be encouraging Parisians

05:30 to just work from home or perhaps even leave the capital during the Games.

05:33 Well, here again, there have been mixed messages.

05:36 In certain areas of Paris, especially the very centre of Paris, security will be tight

05:43 with QR codes for some.

05:45 Most cars in those areas will be forbidden, which has some Parisians grumbling already.

05:51 It is safe to say that it will not be "Metro, boulot, dodo" as usual.

06:03 And this is our expression "du jour" referring to the daily grind of commuting, working

06:10 and then sleeping.

06:11 For sure, the "tra-tra" or the daily routine is going to be a bit different this summer

06:17 for Parisians and also for tourists.

06:20 And more expensive too.

06:21 So, Lange, we've talked a lot about the challenges.

06:23 Let's end on a positive note.

06:25 Is there one?

06:26 There is.

06:27 First, Paris's Maestro system, well, it's actually pretty good.

06:31 Its network is the densest in the world with nearly 220 kilometres of tracks.

06:37 So it covers the city well and at a relatively regular rate most of the time.

06:42 Nonetheless, how the system flows or does not flow during the Olympics is going to be

06:48 a major challenge and reputational test of sorts for the nation during the Games.

06:53 All right.

06:54 So, Lange, thank you so much for that update on the transportation readiness of Paris ahead

06:58 of the Olympics.

06:59 Thanks so much.

07:00 And if you want to watch other French Connections, you can always check them out on the website,

07:03 france24.com or you can reach out to Solange Mougin on social media with your own questions

07:08 about life here in Paris.

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