Interesting facts about the Paris Metro's newly extended line

Line 11 has now become the most suburban one in the French capital’s subway network

The Paris Metro, one of the largest subway networks in the world, just got slightly bigger with the opening of six new stations comprising an extended Line 11. The new stretch reaches the eastern municipality of Rosny-sous-Bois, which has caused it to be dubbed the ‘most suburban line” in the Paris Metro.

The new stations are part of an overall expansion plan of the subway network called Grand Paris Express that seeks to connect the periphery of the French capital to its core with rapid metro services, through the extension of existing lines and the building of four new ones. The plan is to add some 68 new stations of 200 kilometres of new tracks by the end of the decade.

Line 11’s extension is the initiating step of this grand project and now that the focus is on it, we thought we’d give you some

curious facts about that route

that you may have been unaware of.

For instance, did you know that Line 11 contains the highest station in the Paris Metro? And no, that doesn’t mean it’s an open station somewhere on a hill. Télégraphe station is still very much under the ground, 24 metres under to be exact. But at the same time, it’s also located 96 metres above sea level.

Or how about the fact that Line 11 was the first one where rubber-tyred trains were tried out? Its particularly arduous route (high ramps, pronounced curves) constitutes an ideal terrain for testing the performance of this new at the time technology. The year was 1956.

The heat generated in Line 11 is used to heat a building managed by Paris Habitat. This works by sending it to a heat pump in the building. The energy produced is used to heat 20 flats or 35% of the building's heating needs.

The extension of Line 11, which will also feature new types of trains, is already encouraging other municipalities to want their own metro station. Municipalities like Neuilly-sur-Marne (in Seine-Saint-Denis) are already mobilizing to ensure that Line 11 continues on its path further east.