Editing Paris Métro (section)

==Technical specifications==
The Métro has {{convert|245.6|km|mi}} of track<ref name="france.fr" /> and 321 stations,<ref name="Paris-Metro" /> 61 connecting between lines. These figures do not include the RER network. The average distance between stations is {{convert|562|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Trains stop at all stations.<ref>On 1 January 2006, a test was done with few lines opening at night on main stops only.</ref> Lines do not share tracks, even at interchange (transfer) stations.<ref name="Lamming" />

Trains had a maximum permitted speed of {{convert|70|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} and averaged {{convert|25.1|km/h|mph|1|abbr=on}} at peak times as of 2018.<ref name="speed2018">{{cite news |last1=Pezet |first1=Jacques |title=A quelle vitesse roule le métro parisien ? |url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/02/14/a-quelle-vitesse-roule-le-metro-parisien_1653099/ |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=[[Libération]] |date=14 February 2018 |language=fr}}</ref> The fastest lines were the automated ones: [[Paris Métro Line 14|Line 14]], which averaged {{convert|38.9|km/h|abbr=on}},<ref name="speed2018"></ref> and [[Paris Métro Line 1|Line 1]], which averaged {{convert|30|km/h|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duportail |first1=Judith |title=Cinq faits à connaître sur le métro parisien |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2013/03/12/01016-20130312ARTFIG00501-cinq-faits-a-connaitre-sur-le-metro-parisien.php |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=[[Le Figaro]] |date=12 March 2013 |language=fr}}</ref> Trains travel on the right. The track is [[standard gauge]] but the [[loading gauge]] is smaller than the mainline SNCF network. Power is from a lateral [[third rail]], 750 [[Volt|V]] [[Direct current|DC]], except on the [[rubber-tyred metro|rubber-tyred]] lines where the current is from [[guide bar]]s.<ref name="Lamming" />

The [[loading gauge]] is small compared to those of newer metro systems (but comparable to that of early European metros), with capacities of between about 560 and 720 passengers per train on Lines 1–14. Many other metro systems (such as those of New York and London) adopted expanded tunnel dimensions for their newer lines (or used tunnels of multiple sizes almost from the outset, in the case of Boston), at the cost of operating incompatible fleets of rolling stock. Paris built all lines to the same dimensions as its original lines. Before the introduction of rubber-tire lines in the 1950s, this common shared size theoretically allowed any Métro rolling stock to operate on any line, but in practice each line was assigned a regular roster of trains.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}

A feature is the use of rubber-tired trains on five lines: this technique was developed by RATP and entered service in 1951.{{sfnp|Bobrick|1981|p=312}} The technology was exported to many networks around the world (including [[Montreal Metro|Montreal]], [[Mexico City Metro|Mexico City]] and [[Santiago Metro|Santiago]]). Lines 1, 4, 6, 11 and 14 have special adaptations to accommodate rubber-tyred trains. Trains are composed of 3 to 8 cars depending on the line, the most common being 5 cars, but all trains on the same line have the same number of cars.

The Métro is designed to provide local, point-to-point service in Paris proper and service into the city from some close suburbs. Stations within Paris are very close together to form a grid structure, ensuring that every point in the city is close to a Métro station (less than {{convert|500|m|ft|disp=or|0}}), at the cost of speed, except on Line 14 where the stations are farther apart and the trains travel faster. The system is complemented by the RER, which extends farther out into the suburbs and functions as an express network for the city and its surroundings.

The Paris Métro runs mostly underground; surface sections include sections on viaducts in Paris (Lines 1, 2, 5, and 6) and at the surface in the suburbs (Lines 1, 5, 8, and 13). In most cases, both tracks are laid in a single tunnel. Almost all lines follow roads, having been built by the [[cut-and-cover]] method near the surface (the earliest by hand). [[Paris Métro Line 1|Line 1]] follows the straight course of the [[Champs-Elysées]] and on other lines, some stations ([[Liège (Paris Métro)|Liège]], [[Commerce (Paris Métro)|Commerce]]) have platforms that do not align: the street above is too narrow to fit both platforms opposite each other. Many lines have very sharp curves. The specifications established in 1900 required a very low minimum curve radius by railway standards, but even this was often not fully respected, for example near Bastille and Notre Dame de Lorette. Parts of the network are built at depth, in particular a section of [[Paris Métro Line 12|Line 12]] under [[Montmartre]], the sections under the [[Seine]], and all of [[Paris Métro Line 14|Line 14]].

Lines 7 and 13 have two terminal branches, while line 7bis runs in a unidirectional loop at one end. One end of lines 2 and 5 each and both ends of line 6 have their terminus station on a [[balloon loop]]. One end of lines 3bis and 7bis each have their trains essentially operate this way, but instead reverse. One end of lines 2, 3bis, and 4 have trains run out of service on a balloon loop before reentering service. All other termini have trains continue a certain distance beyond the terminal, before proceeding back to the station on a different platform headed the other way.