Editing Orlyval (section)

==History==
[[File:OrlyVal Orly - VAL.JPG|thumb|left|250px|An Orlyval shuttle arriving at Orly 4]]
Orly Airport is the primary airport for domestic flights between Paris and other cities in France. During the 1980s, the only transportation options to the airport were by road. Bus routes to the airport were often crowded and traffic jams were frequent.

Several projects were suggested: an extension of [[Paris Métro Line 7]], an additional branch of the [[RER B]], and an extension of the [[RER C]]. Ultimately, in December 1987, authorities opted for the construction of a shuttle line from the airport to Antony station on the RER B line using the [[Véhicule Automatique Léger]] (VAL) technology developed by [[Matra]] for the [[Lille Metro]] which opened in 1983. The project was seen (and criticized) as a showcase project for Matra who was hoping to sell VAL systems to cities across the world.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 September 1992 |title=UN AUTRE FAÇON DE ROULER |language=fr |work=[[L'Humanité]] |url=https://www.humanite.fr/un-autre-facon-de-rouler-40596 |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref>

The government of [[Jacques Chirac]] was skeptical about financing the shuttle line and instead offered up a [[Concession (contract)|concession]]: the right for a private company to operate the shuttle line on the airport grounds. A consortium was formed to build the line, consisting of the domestic airline [[Air Inter]] (26.7% share), builder Lyonnaise des Eaux-Dumez (18% share), VAL manufacturer Matra (17.3% share), and public transport operator RATP (3.3% share). The other 34.7% of the consortium was owned by several banks including [[Caisse des dépôts et consignations|Caisse des Dépôts]], [[Crédit Lyonnais]], and Indosuez.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 December 1992 |title=L'HEURE DE LA DECRUE |language=fr |work=[[L'Humanité]] |url=https://www.humanite.fr/lheure-de-la-decrue-45258 |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> With daily ridership forecasted at over 14,000 passengers, the banks helped the group secure loans worth 1.55 billion [[french franc]]s (about €21.65 million).

The Orlyval opened on 2 October 1991, about three months ahead of schedule. Almost immediately, ridership was lower than expected. Blame was placed on the premium fare, 55 francs (about €8), and the transfer between VAL and RER trains at Antony station. Daily ridership was around 4,500, only a third of the predicted traffic.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 September 1992 |title=UN METRO NOMME SOUPIRS |language=fr |work=[[L'Humanité]] |url=https://www.humanite.fr/un-metro-nomme-soupirs-39215 |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> After a few months of operation, fares were reduced, but ridership remained low. In the first full year of operation, the line only served 1.2 million travelers, instead of the 4.3 million initially forecasted. In December 1992, the line was put into compulsory liquidation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 January 1993 |title=Orlyval coûtera 10 millions par an pendant 29 ans |language=fr |work=[[L'Humanité]] |url=https://www.humanite.fr/orlyval-coutera-10-millions-par-pendant-29-ans-48541 |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref>

Operation of the line was taken over by RATP, who would receive an operating subsidy of ten million francs per year until the end of 2021, paid by the [[Île-de-France]] region.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 February 1993 |title=Non à l'argent-roi |language=fr |work=[[L'Humanité]] |url=https://www.humanite.fr/non-largent-roi-49534 |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> The settlement also included the requirement that until the end of 2021, a portion of each fare should go to repaying creditors, expected to return about 67% of their original investment. Because of this agreement, fares on the line remained higher than other forms of transportation in the region. As of the end of 2016, the line generated about 10.5 million euros in fares per year.

Ridership increased after the RATP took over operation of the line. The RATP carried out a study of riders in early 1994 and learned the clientele mostly consisted of businessmen traveling between the city and the airport for professional reasons. As a result of the study, in June 1994, RATP increased operating hours of the Orlyval to enable connections to the first and last domestic flights. Since the 2000s, traffic has experienced an annual increase of 8 to 10%. Ridership for the year 2013 amounted to 3.1 million trips.

In June 2024, [[Paris Métro Line 14|Paris Metro line 14]] was extended to Orly Airport with the opening of [[Aéroport d'Orly station]], shortly before the start of the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] and [[2024 Summer Paralympics]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=à 19h28 |first=Par Benoît Hasse Le 12 janvier 2023 |date=2023-01-12 |title=Aéroport d'Orly-Saint-Denis : les rails du prolongement de la ligne 14 du métro sont posés |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/aeroport-dorly-saint-denis-les-rails-du-prolongement-de-la-ligne-14-du-metro-sont-poses-12-01-2023-XQ4ASJ6PS5FLNFRANQO7VVLHLE.php |access-date=2023-06-10 |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref> This offered a faster and cheaper route to central Paris without needing to change trains. By October 2024, ridership on Orlyval and Orlybus had fallen by around 70%.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-15 |title=Un projet à 290 millions d'euros pour sauver la ligne Orlyval |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/essonne/un-projet-a-290-millions-d-euros-pour-sauver-la-ligne-orlyval-3045248.html |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=France 3 Paris Ile-de-France |language=fr-FR}}</ref>  

=== Future ===
Following the extension of [[Paris Métro Line 14|line 14]] to Orly Airport, Orlyval faces an uncertain future.<ref name=":0" /> By 2028, [[Paris Métro Line 18|Paris Metro Line 18]] is scheduled to link the airport with the RER B and C lines at {{stn|Massy-Palaiseau}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grandparisexpress.fr/gpe-headway |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=www.grandparisexpress.fr}}</ref>

{{As of|2024|October}}, [[Île-de-France Mobilités]] is considering options on the future of the line. The first option would be the modernisation of the line with three additional stations built to serve the local community (around €290 million) – this is being lobbied for by the towns of Antony and Wissous as well as the [[Paris-Saclay]] community.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Position de la Communauté Paris-Saclay sur l'avenir de l'Orlyval : maintien de l'infrastructure avec création d'un arrêt à Wissous. |date=11 June 2020 |url=http://www.paris-saclay.com/fileadmin/documents/1._L_agglo/Espace_Presse/CP_Orlyval_Position_de_Paris-Saclay_11_06_2020.pdf |language=fr |last=Alfaiate |first=Séverine |url-status=live |website=[[Paris-Saclay]] |accessdate=4 June 2022 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005102241/http://www.paris-saclay.com/fileadmin/documents/1._L_agglo/Espace_Presse/CP_Orlyval_Position_de_Paris-Saclay_11_06_2020.pdf |archivedate=5 October 2021}}</ref> The second option would be the dismantling of the line (around €150 million),<ref name=":1" /> with possible reuse of the right of way as a cycle path or bus lane.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 January 2020 |title=Reconversion en métro classique, en piste cyclable… Quel avenir pour Orlyval ? |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/emissions/transportez-moi/reconversion-metro-classique-piste-cyclable-quel-avenir-orlyval-1781663.html |access-date=27 July 2021 |work=[[France 3 Paris Île-de-France]] |language=fr}}</ref>

[[Groupe ADP]] – the operator of Orly Airport – desires that the line be converted to a [[People mover|"internal shuttle"]] to transfer people between Orly 1, 2, 3 and Orly 4.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-12 |title=PARIGO. Peut-on encore sauver Orlyval ? |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/paris/parigo-peut-on-encore-sauver-orlyval-3071395.html |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=France 3 Paris Ile-de-France |language=fr-FR}}</ref>