The New Paris Métro Is Coming, And It’s A Very Big Deal

22.11.2023 - 15:02 / forbes.com

Seven years ago, the largest civil engineering project in Europe broke ground in France. Now, it is finally taking shape. Here’s what it will mean for the City of Light.

Whether or not people realize it, the contours of greater Paris are being redrawn beneath their feet. In France, they’re calling it the “construction site of the century.” And that’s not a stretch.

The new Paris métro, formally titled Grand Paris Express (GPE), will more than double the territory encircling France’s capital city with more than 120 miles of new tracks, four new underground lines and 68 new metro stations. The idea is to better connect distant Paris suburbs to the city and to each other — and in so doing, improve the commercial viability of its connected neighborhoods, business districts, and municipalities.

By 2030, it is expected to transport at least two million passengers daily, shifting the entire Île de France region away from cars toward clean public transportation. There is undeniably a huge environmental cost for construction on this scale. But, once in operation, the project is expected to become a very powerful saver of carbon, which is in part why Harvard University awarded the Grand Paris Express the 2023 Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design, recognizing “design that transforms cities and the lives of its inhabitants in unanticipated and extraordinary ways.”

Of course, this has been years in the making. Construction began in 2016, five years after then-President Nicholas Sarkozy called for its implementation in a national address extolling the virtues of the new metropolis: “We want to rebuild the city on top of the city, remove the divide between Paris and its suburbs, reduce the divides which separate the neighborhoods, which separate the inhabitants, we want to restore unity, continuity and solidarity.”

His vision has survived three presidential administrations, despite running years late and billions over-budget. Costs have since reached €36 billion ($39 billion), according to the Société du Grand Paris (Grand Paris Society), the state-owned infrastructure agency Sarkozy tasked with designing and implementing the project. Originally, it was meant to open in time for the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.

Like other major transportation projects, delays seem inevitable. (We Manhattanites are still waiting for the completion of the multi-billion 2nd Avenue subway, an epic urban tale of only one line, not four.) But Paris is another story. The world-wide exposure that comes with hosting the Olympics has put significant pressure on the Grand Paris Society to deliver the goods. Of the 68 stations, 40 are already underway, and they’re hustling to unveil the first new station hub at Orly Airport by June