24-hour Metro travel begins in Paris

Recent news reports have confirmed, that from September 13th, selected metro lines in the capital will be running all night on certain Saturday evenings only.

This is big news for the City of Light, given that the idea of all-night metro rides has been discussed for a while now but has never appeared to be even close to reaching fruition. Like other cities in Europe, Paris has allowed Metro trains to carry passengers through the night a couple of times a year, namely, News Years Eve and on Summer Solstice when Fête de la Musique takes place. But other than at those times, it never happens.

Gently easing the city into this new initiative, the scheme is being rolled out as a limited-service for just 6 months to start with, with only 6 of the metro lines and 3 tram lines offering the new service from this weekend.

If the experiment works, it will be rolled out further with potentially more lines and more frequent weekend dates.

IDF Mobilités, the division of government responsible for local transport led by Valérie Pécresse is quoted as saying ” We need to revitalise nightlife in the capital, our image has been damaged by the yellow vest protestors”

This will be an experiment for Paris as it weighs up the benefits against the costs of this exercise, given that the cost to the city will be a whopping €600,000 each night the trains and trams run till the early hours. This also includes extra costs for security and staff. If the experiment works, it will be rolled out further with potentially more lines and more frequent weekend dates.

Paris metro

Festive Night Metro Line Service

For now, these ‘late night all morning’ services, which are being dubbed “Festive Nights” will only happen one Saturday a month. However, there will be an effort to get more late-night buses on the road.

So, for the next six months diary these dates for late-night travel on the Paris Metro. Saturday, September 14th, October 12th, November 9th, January 11th, February 8th, March 7th and Wednesday, December 31st! Available on metro lines 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and  14 and Tramlines 2a, 3a and 3b.

And don’t forget that all children under 11 can now, as of this month, travel for free in Paris.

Just keeping you up to date,

Love MLP

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