The Paris Metro or Métropolitain (French: Métro de Paris) is
a rapid transit system in the Paris Metropolitan Area. A symbol of the city, it
is noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture,
influenced by Art Nouveau. It is mostly underground and 214 kilometres (133 mi)
long. It has 303 stations, of which 62 have transfers between lines. There are
16 lines, numbered 1 to 14 with two lines, 3bis and 7bis, which are named
because they started out as branches of lines 3 and 7; later they officially
became separate lines; the Metro is still numbered as if these lines were
absent. Lines are identified on maps by number and colour, and direction of
travel is indicated by the terminus.
It is the second busiest subway system in Europe, after the
Moscow Metro, and the tenth-busiest in the world. It carried 1.520 billion
passengers in 2015, 4.16 million passengers a day. It is one of the densest
metro systems in the world, with 245 stations within the 86.9 km2 (34 sq mi) of
the city of Paris. Châtelet – Les Halles, with 5 Métro lines and three RER
commuter rail lines, is the world's largest metro (subway) station. In 2016, it
has been ranked as the best public transport system in the world by the ITDP
with 100 percent of people in the city of Paris having an easy access to rapid
transportation, ahead of 26 other international cities (including London, New
York City and Tokyo). The system on the other hand has generally poor
handicapped-accessibility, because most stations were built well before this
became a consideration.
The first line opened without ceremony on 19 July 1900,
during the World's Fair (Exposition Universelle). The system expanded quickly
until the First World War and the core was complete by the 1920s. Extensions
into suburbs and Line 11 were built in the 1930s. The network reached
saturation after World War II with new trains to allow higher traffic, but
further improvements have been limited by the design of the network and in
particular the short distances between stations. Besides the Métro, downtown Paris
and its urban area are served by the RER developed from the 1960s, several
tramway lines, Transilien suburban trains and two VAL lines, serving Charles De
Gaulle and Orly airports. In the late 1990s, the automated line 14 was built to
relieve RER line A.