According to a Transilien report, public transport will not be able to cope with the influx of spectators in the face of the large number of concerts planned by the Stade de France. The construction of the CDG Express, which is to link the airport to Paris, involves major works on the RER B tracks.
Indochina, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Coldplay: of the 25 concerts scheduled until the end of 2022, 19 are threatened according to a report from the SNCF (as well as the Top 14 final and the France-Ireland match). In question, the renovation works of the North rail axis and the “very many sites [qui] plan to cut RER B and RER D traffic “.
This document specifies that “the evacuation time would be several hours with the public security risks that could be caused by crowd movements (compared to more than an hour today, certain scenarios leading to an evacuation time of 5 hours, unacceptable for personal safety)“.
This document, very harsh towards the Consortium of the Stade de France, criticizes the lack of consultation of the group which “did not take into account the planned work schedule” preventing “to find upstream solutions to any incompatibilities”.
But the Transilien document also notes that the network is completely saturated. While a majority of spectators (60%) come by public transport on the three lines that serve the stadium (line 13, RER B and D), 37,000 people must be evacuated, which takes one o’clock “in normal times”.
However, the work schedule, designed to preserve daytime journeys as much as possible, are passed on to evening and weekend travelers. The means of the carriers cannot meet the needs. The RER B and D having a capacity of 1,700 and 2,500 people respectively, they “cannot be substituted in an equivalent manner”, continues Transilien.
Out of all the events planned, there would be no RER B for 4 of them and no RER D for 5 others (the document does not specify which). “The saturation of the remaining modes (metro 13, etc.) could also lead to a decision to close them in operation for security reasons, further aggravating the situation on public roads”, drives Transilien SNCF.
The railway company therefore offers the authorities “the reduction in the level of the Stade de France, the time difference of events, the regulated evacuation of the Stadium by ‘section’, the massive mobilization of the police”.
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