Posted on Dec. 2021 at 16:17Updated Dec. 2021 at 19:15
If the Covid-19 does not come, once again, to play the spoilsport, the inauguration ceremony of the new stations of line 4 of the Paris metro should take place in mid-January 2022. In any event, the Metro passengers should be able to travel to Bagneux from January 13.
After 6 years of work, the new Barbara stations in Montrouge and Bagneux-Lucie-Aubrac are fully ready. Or almost. Some finishing work remains, which will continue until the opening of the new stations: installing signage and comfort elements for travelers, or the portrait of Lucie Aubrac, produced by the street-art artist C215 , which will take pride of place in the new terminus of the line.
37,000 additional travelers expected
RATP will also continue its dry runs, carried out since December 20. After the current terminus, at the Mairie de Montrouge station, drivers continue their journey without passengers, for 1.8 kilometers, towards the next two stations, then to the rear station, which extends for 800 meters after the new terminus. The 49 trains run at the same frequency as under actual operating conditions; the drivers acclimatize to the new circuit and the machine is rode before the opening to the public.
The stakes are high: line 4, which crosses Paris from north to south, is the second busiest in the capital, just after line 1. 700,000 travelers use it daily and 37,000 additional passengers per day are expected with the opening of two new stations, one of which will serve the town of Bagneux, previously inaccessible by metro.
Automation from summer 2022
On the surface, the arrival of the metro in this Hauts-de-Seine municipality is accompanied by a vast urban renewal project for the entire district. Because in addition to the terminus of line 4, the Lucie-Aubrac station will also provide connection with line 15 of the Grand Paris Express from 2025. At street level, the station is embodied by a circular awning. Two shops, including one food, will be installed there. Dug 8 meters deep, it is partially lit by natural light thanks to a large glass roof.
The Barbara station, it represented a technical stake a little bigger; it descends to 25 meters. “We arrive at the platforms via the mezzanines which overlook them, and give an overview. They are lit by suspended light rings ”, describes Laurent Ferrière, project manager for the extension of line 4 at RATP. The white earthenware tiles, typical of the Parisian metro, have been replaced, in both stations, by corrugated white metal panels.
Firstly, users will travel in the current trainsets of line 4, which is to be progressively automated. “The first automatic trains should arrive in the summer of 2022”, specifies Sandrine Serouart, director of the line 4 extension and automation project at RATP. 32 trains will come from line 14, then 20 additional new trains will be delivered by the manufacturer Alstom. Full automation of the line should take place at the end of 2023.
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