Paris: the turnstiles have disappeared from Montparnasse metro station, find out why

What happened to the turnstiles at the Montparnasse Bienvenue metro station? At the end of November, Parisians who regularly pass through this interchange zone between the metro and Montparnasse station were surprised to find that the concourse was now completely empty, with passengers entering and exiting as if through a mill. And yet, you have to validate your ticket to avoid fines, which have been multiplying in recent weeks. This situation is only temporary, with turnstiles soon to be replaced by automatic doors.

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According to RATP, speaking to Ouest-France, this is linked to"a project to modernize the control lines and reorganize the areas around the entrance to Montparnasse station and the metro entrance". On a daily basis, over 50,000 tickets are validated, with a large number of users and high waiting times during rush hour. With these new models, already in use in many Paris stations, notably Palais-Royal, traffic should flow more smoothly.

RATP director Jean Castex recently described the turnstiles that still exist in most metro stations as a"nightmare", where suitcases and baby carriages regularly get stuck. These will now gradually disappear. But until the automatic doors are in place, don't forget to validate your Navigo card or punch your ticket, or risk being fined.

Sometimes you'll have to look for them, but if you head towards lines 6 and 13, you'll find several validation terminals on the right-hand side, just as if you head towards lines 4 and 12. There are currently only eight of them, so you'll need to be patient during rush hour when the work is in progress. While ticket inspectors are aware of the situation and are asked to"exercise discretion", many passengers have already mentioned fines on social networks.

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