Paris 2024 Olympic Games: everything you need to know about public transport in Île-de-France

Clear mines. Cut short the anxiety-inducing speeches that would turn travel in the Paris region during the Olympic Games into a nightmare. On Monday, Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, wanted to be reassuring one hundred days before the start of the competition where, for the first time, all the sites will be accessible by public transport. “During the Olympic Games, we are going to put in place a transport plan with on average 15% more metro, RER and trains, compared to a classic summer. A size that will accommodate all travelers. The carrying capacity was calculated taking into account Ile-de-France residents who work from August 1 to 11,” she says.

So far, this had not reassured anyone, neither the residents who will need to go to the office, nor the tourists who plan to come for the event: in fact, everyone was wondering if this offer would be reinforced near the competition sites given the influx and departure of several tens of thousands of people in a very short period of time. For example, 1000 people arrive every minute near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on competition days. This time, Valérie Pécresse, who has control over public transport in the Ile-de-France region through IDFM (Île-de-France Mobilités) which she chairs, has dotted the i's: three lines (the 9 , RER A and RER C) will be able to offer 60% to 70% more capacity. This will be particularly useful for traveling to the west of Paris to Roland-Garros or the Parc des Princes. But line A to the east will also allow you to reach the Vaires-sur-Marne site where the rowing events will take place, going down to Bussy-Saint-Georges.

Traffic will be increased by 23% on eight other lines (RER B, D and E, transiliens lines N, P, etc.). Thus, line N will be in greater demand than usual because it serves Versailles, where the jumping events will take place, and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which will host golf. To cope with this workload, the recruitment of 300 drivers is being completed. Obviously, this device is not a guarantee against hiccups. For example, certain lines like C and B, which are expected to be particularly busy, currently have regularity and punctuality performances that leave something to be desired. “Each time, we ask for emergency plans to rectify the situation,” underlines Valérie Pécresse.

On certain outlying sites, the journey will not stop at the station or station. At Versailles, for example, shuttles will bring 10,000 spectators to the site per hour. But a tool will reconcile Parisians who stayed during the Olympics and tourists: the Paris 2024 Public Transport app, in pink and purple colors like the signage indicating the competition locations. Launched in May in six languages ​​(French, English, Spanish, etc.), it will be able to indicate the best route to get to the place of your choice based on the distribution of onlookers in Paris. Information - by line, station, section - crucial for Parisians, who when leaving the offices will only have to consult the app to make the right choice. Make way for alternative routes: regular users must “remove their automatic transport systems, the routes we give you are the right ones”, according to Valérie Pécresse.

For example, if the Trocadéro station is indicated as saturated at 6 p.m., the app could advise you to get on the metro one station further (at Passy on line 6 or rue de la Pompe on 9). For their part, tourists who are going to attend an event will be suggested an ideal route with access cards to the sites. And they will also be able to reserve their Paris 2024 pass on their smartphone (16 euros per day to travel anywhere in Île-de-France). The single ticket was set at four euros “so that no one buys any” and thus avoid “embolisms at the counters”, specifies Valérie Pécresse.

A debate that does not concern Ile-de-France residents: by subscribing to Liberté, they will only pay 1.73 euros for their ticket. To reconcile this population with the Olympics, Valérie Pécresse plays one last card. “Thanks to this event, we have done in seven years what we are currently doing in fifteen years or even decades,” she emphasizes. Without the Games, we would never have achieved the objective of delivering the extension of line 14 in June. » From now on, it will take 25 minutes to travel from Orly to Chatelet compared to 50 minutes today. The most enthusiastic will be able to participate in the “marathon for all” on the night of August 10 between Paris and Versailles. For the occasion, RER line C will remain open on its Paris section.