Paris Métro Line 4


Line 4 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. Situated mostly within the boundaries of the City of Paris, it connects Porte de Clignancourt in the north and Mairie de Montrouge in the south, travelling across the heart of the city. Prior to 2013, when the southern terminus was changed from Porte d'Orléans to Mairie de Montrouge, the line was sometimes referred to as the Clignancourt – Orléans Line. At in length, it connects to all of the lines of the Métro apart from the 3bis and 7bis branch lines, as well as all of the RER express lines. Further, it is the second-busiest Métro line after Line 1, carrying over 154 million passengers in 2004.
Line 4 was the first line to connect the Right and Left Banks of Paris via an underwater tunnel, built between 1905 and 1907. Line 4 long ran the oldest cars in service on the system, the MP 59, which used rubber tyres to dissipate the braking power through resistance. Those trains were withdrawn from service during the course of 2011 and 2012 after 45 years. They were replaced by the MP 89 CC stock from Line 1 when the latter line was automatised. .
In the first decade of the 21st century, Line 4 was extended for the first time since its initial construction, into the southern suburbs of Montrouge. It now serves the new southern terminus of Mairie de Montrouge. Construction of the extension began in 2008 and it opened to passengers on 23 March 2013 . The line is now being retrofitted for full automation, with completion expected in the early 2020s.

History

Chronology

Line 4, opened in 1908, was the last line of the original concession of the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris and the first to cross the Seine underground. The route was the subject of lengthy discussions that delayed the start of construction of the tunnel. It was originally planned as a straight line under the Rue du Louvre, under the Seine in line with the street, under the Institut de France, along the Rue de Rennes and then the Boulevard Raspail to the Porte d'Orleans.
But as a result of the delay in beginning the extension of the Rue de Rennes as part of Haussmann's plan to the Seine—which was never carried out—and the outcry from the academics who refused categorically to agree to the line passing under the Institut de France, the route was eventually changed to cross further east through the Place du Châtelet and the Île de la Cité. The new route also has more coherence as a north–south route following the main traffic flows. A second modification of the route was also made: it was decided to make a temporary deviation via the major station of Gare Montparnasse to avoid a further delay in opening the line, which was eagerly awaited. This was made necessary by the delay in building the new Boulevard Raspail between Rue de Rennes and Boulevard du Montparnasse. Once the Boulevard Raspail was completed, it was planned to take the shorter route and bypass the Gare Montparnasse. To the south of the Vavin station the tunnel provides for the final route along the Boulevard Raspail. But the value in serving three major mainline stations by the line later led to the abandonment of this proposal.

A spectacular construction site

In 1905 construction was started by the company of Léon Chagnaud—a former mason from Creuse —and line 4 became the first to cross the Seine underground. The method used for crossing under the river is that of metal caissons, twenty to forty meters in length mounted on the banks and sunken vertically in the river bed. The ends of the caissons were blocked and they were towed to their location before being ballasted with water and sunk in the riverbed. A chamber filled with pressurised air was built at the lower level of these caissons so that workers could excavate under the caissons. Each caisson gradually sank to its final position as the ground below it was removed. The northern stream of the Seine required three caissons, the southern stream two caissons.
The crossing of the Seine also involved the freezing of saturated ground between the station of Saint-Michel and the Seine, under the line of the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans in 1908 and 1909. The installation of two refrigeration plants allowed the movement of brine cooled to −25 °C in dozens of tubes to stabilize the ground.
The northern section was the first completed: it was opened on 21 April 1908 from Porte de Clignancourt to Châtelet. The southern section was opened 30 in October 1909 from Porte d'Orleans to Raspail. The two sections were connected on 9 January 1910. However, the line was closed to traffic a few days later in January 1910, when the level of the Seine broke its banks during the worst flood of the century. On the morning of 24 January 1910, a significant inflow of water at the Seine crossing interrupted services between Châtelet and Vavin, although services were restored later in the day. But the inflow increased and services were again halted in the afternoon. On 26 January Châtelet station and the crossing under the river was completely flooded and slowly rose in the tunnel. On the night of 27 and 28 January, flooding reached Réaumur – Sébastopol and eventually Gare de l'Est: The line at its minimum was reduced to operating between Clignancourt and Gare du Nord and between Vavin and Porte d'Orleans. The fall in the level of flooding during February allowed a gradual resumption of operations, but full service was not restored to 6 April after repair of extensive damage caused to the infrastructure.
During the politically turbulent 1930s, Line 4 had its own drama: on 27 July 1934, a package left in a carriage was carried into the office of its chief supervisor, located on the platform of Montparnasse. The package exploded, killing the chief supervisor and another officer and wounding four passengers. The assassins were never found.
During World War II the most violent bombing Paris suffered was on the night of 20 and 21 April 1944 when the rail freight yard of la Chapelle and the main truck workshop at Rue Championnet were hit. The roof of the Simplon station was hit by a bomb and it collapsed on the tracks and platforms. After repairs the line was brought back into service a few days later.

File:Malcuit - Métropolitain de Paris - Souterrain construit sur caisson à air comprimé.JPG|Postcard explaining the construction of the crossing under the Seine by the use of pressurised sunken caissons
Image:Paris - Les travaux du Metropolitain - Foncage d un caisson.jpg|Sinking of a caisson in the narrow stream of the Seine in 1906
Image:Paris - Les travaux du Metropolitain - Foncage du caisson central.jpg|Sinking of the central caisson in the northern stream of the Seine
Image:Paris - Les travaux du Metropolitain place Saint-Michel.jpg|Sinking of the Saint-Michel station
Image:Paris - Travaux du Metropolitain - Les fermes de la place Saint-Michel.jpg|Work sites in the Place Saint-Michel and Boulevard Saint-Andre before the sinking

The rubber tyre metro and the deviation of the line

The RATP was satisfied by experimentation with rubber tyres on Line 11 beginning in 1956. It therefore decided to equip lines 1 and 4 for rubber-tyre operations, which can increase line capacity by providing better acceleration and decelerations as a result of a much superior grip.
In the early 1960s these two lines were the two busiest on the network, with loads of 140% of capacity during the evening peak. However, as this change alone was insufficient to overcome this saturation, the length of stations was lengthened from 75 to 90 metres, allowing the lengthening of train from five to six carriages. This work was carried out very quickly and, as early as October 1965, trains of six carriages traversed the line. On 3 October 1966, the first train composed of MP 59 electric multiple units operated on the line. The Line 4 trains were identical to those on Line 1, being composed of four motor and two trailers per train. The line's MP 59 fleet included 556 carriages, comprising 376 powered carriages and 180 trailers. On 17 July 1967, the last steel-wheeled train left the line to strengthen the service of other with a hundred cars built before 1914 scrapped. In February 1971, line 4 was the second network after line 11 to be equipped with semi-automatic operation, with a system known as Grecque. This allowed trains once started by the driver to run automatically and stop at the next station.
Since its opening the only change of the route of the line took place in early October 1977 with the deviation of the line with the relocation of the station at Les Halles. During the excavation of the enormous Les Halles complex the station of Les Halles was relocated about ten metres further east to allow a shorter connection to Châtelet – Les Halles RER station. For this, three hundred and thirty meters of tunnel were built to join the old route. The changeover took place on three consecutive nights from 10 pm on Friday, 30 September 1977 to the beginning of services on Monday, 3 October. On the first night, the new track 2 was connected, on the second night, the new track 1 was built and on the last night it was connected.
On 6 August 2005 at 4:42 pm, a fire on a train at Simplon due to the malfunction of a circuit breaker caused the evacuation of two MP 59 trains with 19 people mildly affected. The fire was extinguished by fire fighters at around 6:00 pm.

Extension to Montrouge and the MP 89

Until 2013, Line 4 was one of a few lines that had never been extended beyond the "gates" of Paris. During the 1920s, a preliminary extension towards la Vache-Noire was planned but never carried out. Since that time, no other extension plan was brought up. In 2008, nearly a century after its opening, construction of a one-station extension towards Mairie de Montrouge began. The new station officially opened to passengers on 23 March 2013, allowing one to travel from Montrouge to Clignancourt in 30 minutes. Mairie de Montrouge is a traditional two-tracked station.
In addition to the Montrouge extension, there has recently been a much-needed refresh in rolling stock for Line 4, as the MP 59 trainsets were reaching the end of their useful lives. The automation of Line 1 and purchasing of new automated rolling stock allowed the RATP to replace the MP 59 with the MP 89CC rolling stock from Line 1. Testing of the MP 89 during overnight hours took place in 2010, with the first train to be transferred to Line 4 in April, 2011 and enter service on 23 May 2011. A second train entered service on 10 September 2011. The first MP 59 train that was retired was #6049, which was pulled from service in April, 2011.
As the MP 05 rolling stock began to debut on Line 1, the pace of transferring the MP 89CC stock from Line 1 to Line 4 increased to roughly 3 trains per month. Since January, 2012, the RATP kept this rate of transfer despite only being able to remove 2 MP 59 trainsets from service each month. During the course of 2011, the following trains were transferred from Line 1 to Line 4: #s 14, 20, 29, 30, 31, 34, 38, and 40. Train #s 03 through 25, 27 through 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 51, and 52 were transferred during the course of 2012. #45 was transferred on 3 January 2013, marking the 47th train to be moved to Line 4. Between February and March 2013, #s 02, 46, 47, and 50 were transferred. The final MP 89CC train was be #26. The last MP 59 train to be pulled from service was #6021, which was withdrawn on 21 December 2012. Though many MP 59 trains operated on Line 4 for roughly 45 years, those trains that were brought over from Line 1 during the late 1990s have circulated throughout the Metro for about 50 years.

Future

Southern Extension towards Bagneux

After the opening of Mairie de Montrouge, Line 4 will be extended further south by two stations: Barbara at the frontier between Montrouge and Bagneux and Bagneux - Lucie Aubrac. In October, 2011, the STIF announced that construction of the Bagneux extension will begin in 2014, with opening expected in 2019 . Barbara will also have a traditional two-track configuration, while Bagneux - Lucie Aubrac will have a three-track/dual platform configuration by which many terminating stations possess. Bagneux - Lucie Aubrac will also allow connection to the Red Line of the Grand Paris Express network.

Northern Extension towards Saint-Ouen

An extension to the north to the "docks" of Saint-Ouen via Mairie de Saint-Ouen was planned for phase 1 of the Schéma directeur de la région Île-de-France, which was adopted by resolution of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France on 25 September 2008. However no detailed studies have been carried out nor finance set aside for it.

Automation

The line is being converted to an automated system, with completion initially expected by 2019. The initial plans were to begin conversion some time after the completion of the Line 1 conversion, but due to high costs those plans were put on hold . On 2 April 2013, the RATP confirmed that Line 4 would be fully automated, but stopped short of giving a timeline of the conversion. In January 2016, Siemens was awarded a €70 million contract to fully automate Line 4. A mix of passenger and driverless trains will commence in 2020 and the line will be fully driverless by 2022.
Although rolling stock for the automated line has not yet been confirmed, it is highly speculated that Line 4 will initially see a mix of MP 89CA and MP 05 stock from Line 14 running alongside new MP 14 railcars.

Rolling Stock

Over the years, Line 4 has seen the following rolling stock.

Workshops

Until March, 2013; light maintenance of the MP 89CC rolling stock of Line 4 was handled within the station of Porte d'Orléans. Platform 2 of the station. This protocol changed when a new garage located south of the new station Mairie de Montrouge opened. Track 3 of station Porte d'Orléans will eventually be dismantled and covered over to make way for a new access point into the station.
Second level maintenance is handled at the Saint-Ouen shops, located just to the north of the Porte de Clignancourt terminus. The facility extends over an area of 34,000 sq meters and opened in 1908. The shops have been renovated and expanded over the years, including a recent extension to house MP 89CC trainsets that are undergoing routine maintenance.
In addition to maintaining the MP 89CC trainsets, the Saint-Quen shops also handles heavy maintenance and overhaul of the MF 77 steel-wheel stock trains for lines 7, 8 and 13, as well as numerous auxiliary/service trains. The shop is also specialized in the review of electronic equipment of all network hardware. As of 2007, 60 officers are assigned to train maintenance and 220 to the maintenance of equipment.
All heavy maintenance work for the MP 89CC trainsets are handled in the workshops of Fontenay, located just east of the Chateau de Vincennes terminus of Line 1.

Map and stations

Stations renamed

Themed Stations

Tourism

Metro line 4 passes near several places of interest and therefore often crowded :
According to Facebook group New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens, M4 is considered "chaotic good" on the Dungeons & Dragons alignment system.

Gallery