SNCF, RATP… General mobilization in Ile-de-France transport for the Paris Olympic Games

The rail network will be reinforced with an offer greater than 15% compared to a usual summer period, free shuttles will connect stations and outlying sites. 10 lines with 300 biogas, diesel or hybrid (biofuel) shuttles and 1000 carbon-free buses to transport athletes, media and accredited audiences. “The particularity is that we are not at the same pace as during the year with peak hours and off-peak hours, explains Delphine Comolet, JO project manager for Transilien (SNCF). And we have to mobilize people, including on lines which are generally not very busy (P and J) such as for the nautical stadium or the Yves du Manoir stadium in Colombes, whose service will benefit from a specific offer with 8 trains per hour from Saint-Lazare station, which has never been done. We worked hand in hand with the RATP.”

10 million travelers per day on the RATP network

The RATP is also on the front line. It expects 10 million travelers per day compared to 8 million for a usual summer period, the equivalent of a day of full winter traffic. On certain lines, transport capacity will be increased by 60 to 70% (RER A and C, metro line 9). Around the Saint-Denis sites, the crowds will be the greatest. IDFM forecasts peak transport flows of 60,000 spectators per hour. A fairly well served area (RER B & D, metro lines 12 & 13, Transilien line H, etc.). Jean Castex, the CEO of RATP, put the difficulties into perspective on May 15, before the Association of Transport and Mobility Journalists (AJTM): “There will be no more people than for a match of the VI nations tournament”. But there will be multiple entries and exits in the same day. To manage these flows, the augmented cameras which were tested for Taylor Swift concerts should be deployed for this event, if the Council of State gives the green light. The most complicated concerns transport to outlying sites which are not necessarily very well served on a daily basis such as the Palace of Versailles and Paris West. “We must make exceptional arrangements, because lines 9 and 10 will not be enough,” we tell the RATP. Hence the bus shuttles from Porte Dauphine to Roland Garros and Place de l’Etoile to the Parc des Princes, with buses on each line every minute.

Other operators are also affected. Keolis will have the difficult task of transporting some of the athletes. And it is also concerned by the events which are played in the regions, where it operates certain networks such as in Bordeaux, Lille or Châteauroux. At Transdev, we specify that we will transport around 175,000 passengers per day, including accredited passengers (Paris 2024 collaborators, volunteers, media) on around fifty bus lines, including certain shuttle lines to transport spectators to the Olympic sites. from Vaires-sur-Marne (boating).

Line 14 ready for D-day

In terms of the new lines promised during the application, this is ultimately the bare minimum with essentially the extensions of line 14 extended south to Orly airport and north to Saint-Denis Pleyel, which which provides an additional solution for getting to the Stade de France and the Olympic village. Moreover, “we have completely renewed the automatic system which dated from 1998, recalls Edgar See, JOP and Paralympics deputy director at RATP. The trains are already running empty on the two extensions. The trains were delivered by Alstom in sufficient numbers. Even if the number is less than the initial order.” The inauguration is expected to take place during the week of June 20. Line 14 will transport 1 million people per day, double compared to today, with an interval of 85 seconds between two trains, unheard of. And to the west, the RER E has just been extended to Nanterre La-folie, the T3b tram to Porte Dauphine, from where shuttles will depart to Roland Garros… Finally, no one is missing as the common section of future lines 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express between Saint-Denis-Pleyel and Le Bourget. “It was Covid that destroyed the construction site, recalls Jean Castex. For line 14, we did not stop construction during confinement, unlike all construction sites in the world.”

Preventative maintenance and plan B

In order to avoid any hiccups, it is also essential to avoid breakdowns as much as possible. “For maintenance we worked in anticipation, explains Delphine Comolet. We usually carry out major preventive maintenance operations in summer. And we have set up mobile troubleshooting teams to be very responsive in the event of a problem.” Afterwards, you must have a plan B on each line in the event of damage to rolling stock or infrastructure and a passenger accident. A transport plan has been designed for each site, including alternative routes that can be found on the “Paris Public Transport 2024” app in six languages. To help reception staff in stations and stations, RATP has developed the Tradivia app based on AI to answer questions in around fifteen languages ​​with instant translation and SNCF Voyageurs has launched TradSNCF which answers in 130 languages . “We have a lot more stress before than during the Games. In general, the spectator arrives three hours in advance.warns Clément Michel, general manager of Keolis France, who spoke with former transport managers during the London Olympics.

General mobilization

To meet this challenge, human resources are essential. “The JOPs are above all an HR subject at a time when people are on vacation”, summarizes Jean Castex. The SNCF is still negotiating with the unions on the bonuses to be granted to voluntary employees. At RATP, negotiations were successful with bonuses of up to 2,500 euros gross for drivers who were particularly involved (5% of the workforce mobilized at most). For others, they will be between 400 and 1900 euros gross. Because the mobilization reflects the event. “We will have 19,000 agents per day on the ground and even 21,000 during the Paralympics, specifies Edgar See. 35,000 employees are called to work during the 31 days. We must add a thousand seasonal workers and 2,500 volunteers, without forgetting external service providers.” Carriers have generally anticipated recruitment, such as RATP with around 300 drivers. Transdev will mobilize 3,000 employees during the two events, including 1,000 per day. He called on all his networks in France, but also in the Czech Republic, Sweden, and former retired employees. At Keolis, 1,000 drivers will be dispatched throughout France and grouped under the banner of a new ephemeral subsidiary “Keolis 2024”. At the SNCF, more than 5,000 reinforcements are planned to lend a hand to the operational teams. “For drivers, we anticipated the recruitments that were planned, so that they had time to complete their complete training, explains the Transilien project manager. We recruited 600 more than what was planned. We also called on TER and TGV drivers, and occasional drivers on a voluntary basis.”

With such resources, we must hope that transport in the Ile-de-France region will silence the skeptics and that they will be improved in the future. “We have to be good during the Games, and afterward, better than before,” anticipates Edgar See.