The Grand Paris Express is set to revolutionize the daily lives of many people in the Paris region, who are already accustomed to using public transport. In future, passengers will no longer need to pass through Paris to reach Pont de Sèvres from Arcueil-Cachan, for example. Thanks to the future line 15, commuters will be able to link these two towns in just 11 minutes, compared with 48 minutes today!
This is an opportunity to take a closer look at line 15 of the Grand Paris Express, which will be the longest metro line in France. Line 15 will circumnavigate Paris over a distance of 75 km, crossing no less than 45 communes, including Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, Bobigny, Bondy, Rosny, Val-de-Fontenay, Champigny, Noisy-le-Grand, Saint-Maur, Créteil, Villejuif, Vitry-sur-Seine, Arcueil, Cachan, Bagneux, Châtillon, Montrouge, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Sèvres, Saint-Cloud, Suresnes, Nanterre, La Défense and Bois-Colombes. Ultimately, line 15 will criss-cross the rails of four départements in the Paris region: Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Seine-et-Marne.
" By forming a ring road around Paris, line 15 will improve access to jobs, universities and major sports and cultural venues in the Paris region, such as the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the MAC/VAL contemporary art museum in Vitry-sur-Seine and the Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt," explains Société des grands projets, adding that line 15 will also link a number of major business parks in La Défense, Saint-Denis Pleyel and Val-de-Fontenay, as well as being close to health and education facilities such as the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny and the Condorcet university campus in Aubervilliers.
And last but not least, almost 95% of Line 15 stations will connect with the existing transport network, i.e. Transilien, RER, metro, streetcar and bus.
In terms of stations, 36 will be served by this future Line 15, spread over three sections: East, West and South. Among the most eagerly awaited is the Noisy - Champs station. With platforms located between 13.5 and 21 meters underground, it will be one of the Grand Paris Express interconnecting stations to accommodate two lines of the new metro: lines 15 and 16.
Another station likely to be the talk of the town? Le Vert de Maisons. With platforms 35 meters underground, and eleven levels including nine underground, it will be one of the deepest stations in the Grand Paris Express. But the deepest station in the future network, and indeed the deepest in France, will undoubtedly be Saint-Maur - Créteil. With platforms at a depth of 52 meters (compared with an average of 29 meters for other Grand Paris Express stations), this future Saint-Maur - Créteil station will be spread over nine underground levels. To reach the platforms of this line 15 Sud, users will have to take a"monumental" staircase, or one of the 11 available elevators.
Another example is the Mairie station in Vitry-sur-Seine, described by the local authority as a " cave station " !
What about the construction schedule andinauguration of this future line 15? Due to its many kilometers of track, line 15 will be brought into service gradually. Announced for the end of 2025, commissioning of the southern section (between Pont de Sèvres and Noisy-Champs stations) has been postponed until summer 2026, as announced on November 28 by the Société des grands projets. The reason?Delays in testing". " Jean-François Monteils, Chairman of Société des Grands Projets, explained:"We need to deepen our test phases, to guarantee an optimum level of technical performance, particularly for Île-de-France Mobilités, which will be responsible for managing it.
The opening of line 15 Sud, the first line to be built on the Grand Paris Express network, has already been postponed several times. Initially announced for 2020, the inauguration was first postponed to 2023, then to 2024 and finally to the end of December 2025. The southern section of line 15 is now scheduled to open in summer 2026.
Inauguration is scheduled for 2031, with the opening of the Eastern section (between Champigny Centre and Saint-Denis-Pleyel stations) and the Western section (between Pont de Sèvres and Saint-Denis Pleyel stations).
Visit the Société du Grand Paris website and the Société des grands projets website to find out more!
Official website
www.societedesgrandsprojets.fr
