CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of the ambitious Grand Paris express metro network has moved a step closer after the planned 5.8km extension of Line 14 from St Lazare to Mairie de St Ouen was granted public utility status.

PUBLIC consultation has begun in Paris on the first section of the ambitious Grand Paris automated express metro network, which will eventually encircle the city with four new lines linking the suburbs.

THE project to automate Paris Metro Line 1 reached an important milestone on July 7 with the launch of full Unattended Train Operation (UTO) at weekends.

PARIS Transport Authority (RATP) has placed a €1bn order with Alstom and Bombardier for an additional 70 MI09 double-deck emus for RER Line A. Alstom is responsible for two thirds of contact and Bombardier the remaining one third.

Paris is developing ambitious plans to connect its suburbs with a 160km peripheral metro network, as Keith Barrow explains.

FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has received final offers from Bouygues and Vinci for a public-private partnership (PPP) contract to build and maintain an 80km high-speed line to bypass the Mediterranean cities of Nîmes and Montpellier.

MR PIERRE Mongin, chairman and CEO of Paris Transport Authority (RATP), inaugurated the commissioning of the first automatic driverless trains for Line 1 of the Paris metro on November 3.