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The great metropolis of Paris not only has one of the world’s original and most extensive metro systems, but it’s also the birthplace of a whole new type of transit system – the RER, connecting the wider region together with express trains. Learn about the RER in today’s video!
Special thanks to Julian Merle-R. & Hiro Trevelyan for helping with this video!
Link to Alon Levy’s article on the RER: https://citymonitor.ai/transport/rer-or-rer-c-how-paris-typifies-two-models-cross-city-commuter-train-lines-2704
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Ever wondered why your city’s transit just doesn’t seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.
27 Comments
Thanks for watching our videos this year! We have a full playlist of all of the explainer videos here if you want something to watch! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoYcvp1EGSeL1hZCfeQodba_VNW7pe8v
On strike, dirty , dangerous, late, …this is the real RER in paris.
Mais ils ont plusieurs problèmes par exemple en retard panne et accident
Happy New Year Reece! Are you coming back to NYC when Grand Central Madison opens? Maybe even film an Explained video on the LIRR while inside of Grand Central
Pécresse laughed at this video.
I think you should talk about a system that is similar to Sbahn and RER: Rodalies/Cercanías
will you ever make a video on the buenos aires metro? i would love to see you cover it, it's not so impressive but it's extremely old and has lots of history.
The RER is fantastic. The crazy thing is just the sheer size and scale of it all, the RER A has an 18km long Central tunnel and extended far far out, its like the precursor to the Elizabeth line with a similar length tunnel. But they have 5 of them! Albeit not as long, but 5 central tunnels all longer than 5km for a commuter rail network is just insane. The only thing that even comes close here in the UK is the Thameslink central tunnels (video on thameslink core would be cool) and northern city line (basically a giant tube tunnel for mainline trains), but those are smaller commuter railways. The sheer scale of the thing is just crazy
I always wanted to know more about RER. So informative. Loved it.
Can't thank you enough. 👍👍❤️
A great video that gives a nice external point of view on our system. One HUGE downside however of the RER and Transilien network is that many tracks are shared, as you said, meaning that often a single accident or problem in one of the main line, like line A or B, can delay or bring down a huge part of the network and create many problems. Line B is the the most infamous for its delays and problems, mostly due to the single shared tunnel to access the main portion in Paris.
There is unfortunely another side to this. RER is often shutdown on multiple points passed a certain hour, making this access to Paris difficult but more so, returning from Paris difficult. You can take the RER to catch up with friends on a saturday night and end up being stuck in Paris with no way to return home other than taking a Uber. So you end up taking your car through traffic to make sure to get home easily.
In rush hour, RER is insanely loaded. If you wish to sit, you can take the long train which has more stops and less people in it but it will double the time of your trip. Otherwise, you'll have to stand compressed between people, sometimes without anything to hold on and avoid falling. This causes people fainting or being hostiles to each other.
Also, most of your friends in Paris aren't really your friends since they tend to taking only Paris subway. They won't come often at your house in suburbs because they can't be stuck away from Paris and most of them don't drive. You will be the one making the trip.
Don't get me wrong, RER is not really the cause of all this. It is a great transport meaning which i use all the time. But it also influenced companies and people to be in Paris, making rents too high and basically making mandatory to work in Paris while living in Ile de France. Too much people are now living around Paris and are taking the same 4 RER lines to go to work. No entire region should rely on such a transportation system instead of developing local neighborhoods and jobs.
A RER in the Lyon region could me a major improvement in the regions mobility, linking important cities more quickly and cheaper to the tgv
Awesome, interesting video! Love, absolutely love Paris' RER and Metro systems! They take you to any areas of Paris and then some, with less waiting time between trains. Other types of transportation are neither needed nor necessary for us.
Living near a RER C station and watching this x) : terrific
I take the RER A very often !
I was watching this and a couple other videos on the RER and I couldn’t help to be:
1- impressed by the sheer size of the system and how it complements the subway
2- the size of Paris transit system and how well one complements the other
3- how similar the CPTM system in São Paulo is to RER, but way smaller and without the lines crossing the city center, so it’s more like the Transilien. But it’s same idea: a mix of commuter rail and rapid transit to suburbs and reaching the city center connecting with the subway.
Also, as a user of CPTM, I would love to see this RER A double decker train with that amount of seats on it’s lines 🤣🤣🤣
A few notes as a complement to a great video :
– Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est are not a single hub yet (you can walk from one to the other though). A passageway is under construction and will be opened in 2024.
– The misconnection between lines A and C is due to the fact that Étoile station is a more important hub. A station at Porte Maillot would be too close to Étoile. Fortunetaly line E will fix this problem.
– Line C will loose its circular services when T12 tram train line opens and takes them over. First in 2023 the Juvisy – Massy section will be removed and the Massy branch will be extended to Versailles, then T12 wil be extended to Versailles and the services will disappear completely.
– Line D services to Malesherbes and Melun are now shuttled due too low ridership and a negative impact on regularity. That was an unpopular decision and there are talks to re-introduce direct trains to Paris.
– I agree double-decked trains on line A don't really make sense but France has a strong culture of comfort and removing seats would be very controversial. For the same reason we haven't implemented longitudinal seats like everywhere else.
– Line 14 trains are not wider than regular Paris metro trains. They use the usual 2.40m gauge.
The northern branch of RER C to Pontoise has such a complexe history and design that it deserves its own a video.
It was created in 1988 by linking several existing or disused rail infrastructures. It took over the Auteuil line, the last surviving part of Paris's Petite Ceinture railway. That's why is has so many stations inside Paris and trains can be very slow. Due to NIMBY opposition (of course…) the route is also not great and it features sharp turns and steep slopes that contribute to the line's low speed.
However it has truly great stations from the 1900s and the viaduct over the the Seine offers a beautiful view on the Tour Eiffel.
Do you have a video on the fastest regional (commuter) rails? If not, you should. It would be interesting to see if there are any 150+ mph suburban commuters
Wish things hadn’t been so chaotic when I had my layover at CDG. I wanted to ride the RER. (And see some sights in Paris, but that was more to prove I’d been. The metro and RER were the real draw.)
Who's in Paris
I use the RER A everyday to & from work and barley have any issues. Definitely more convenient than the metro in the city (as well as line B) 👌🏼
Great video like everytime on this channel ! It would had been interesting in complement to mention the future airport shutlle CDG express ( Charles de Gaulle express) which is not a RER but will act a little like it by using some of its railtracks section. Starting from Gare de l'Est to CDG railways station. It will be a huge improvement in quality for travellers.
RER a always blursed
I used the Paris Metro and RER for twenty years before I retired and generally found it pretty good. Having frequently used RER B to the south, it is a bit frustrating that there are so many stations where the train stops. Even more frustrating was that the RER didn't go within easy walking distance of where I wanted to go. However, that is a perennial issue with public transport: the further you go out from the centre of a metropolis, the more the radial lines fan out and the larger the areas that are not adequately served.
On the other side, perhaps unrelated to the nature of this video is the fact that the RER system as a whole is absolutely disgusting, it is incredibly common to find dirt, trash and residues left behind by some users. It's also very common to see people resting their naked feet in the cloth seats in front of them… The smell in most of the stations is horrific, sometimes even coming from people urinating inside the stations!!! I've seen plenty of rats in Gare de Lyon and Chatelet les Halles, those two probably have not been cleaned since they were built decades ago. Frequencies for far away suburbs are also an absolute joke, with most lines ending service before midnight. It's very sad what Paris has become, a lawless city where everyone fights to survive instead of actually living. Engineering behind RER lines is obviously amazing, and worth highlighting, as shown on this video, but this part must also be mentioned.
Being french and from Paris, i will show this video to people i know saying "Paris has the WORST transportation network in the world."
Being tired of this. Very good video Thanks a lot !