PARIS, April 14 — Long the envy of other cities, Paris’ creaking underground metro system has become a subject of daily frustration for users just as the French capital gears...
With around seven million visitors expected in Paris during the Olympics from July 26 to August 11, the commuter train system will be under severe scrutiny as one of the main forms of transport for tourists and locals alike. — AFP picPARIS, April 14 — Long the envy of other cities, Paris ’ creaking underground metro system has become a subject of daily frustration for users just as the French capital gears up to host this year’s Olympics.
User satisfaction has plunged since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when the RATP, which runs the capital’s transport system, cut services as workers stayed home en masse.Many metro employees were furloughed and never returned to jobs, while the training of new staff to replace them slowed significantly.
With around seven million visitors expected in Paris during the Olympics from July 26 to August 11, the commuter train system will be under severe scrutiny as one of the main forms of transport for tourists and locals alike.Major political pressure ahead of the Games — and the appointment of former prime minister Jean Castex as head of the RATP in 2022 — has led to gradual improvements in recent months, according to surveys by the capital’s transport authority.
Workers are also racing to complete key line extensions ahead of the Olympics, notably to connect the southern Orly airport to the line 14 and a new transport node near the Stade de France, which will host athletics, in the north. The challenge is not so much the volume of travellers — overall traffic is expected to be no higher than a normal working day — but it is the peaks in demand as fans enter and leave stadiums.
There will be no parking provision for cars at sports venues, however, and traffic jams in the capital are expected to be worse than usual due to road closures.
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