Editing Réseau Express Régional (section)

===Origins===

Its roots are in the 1936 ''[[Henri Ruhlmann|Ruhlmann]]–[[Marc Langewin|Langewin]]'' plan of the {{lang|fr|[[Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris]]}} (Metropolitan Railway Company of Paris) for a "{{lang|fr|métropolitain express}}" (express [[rapid transit|metro]]). The company's post-war successor, RATP, revived the scheme in the 1950s, and in 1960 an interministerial committee decided to go ahead with the construction of an east–west line.<ref name="official hist"/> Subsequently, the central part of the RER was completed between 1962 and 1977 in a large-scale civil engineering project whose chief supervisor was [[Siavash Teimouri]]. The construction of the RER was a major undertaking, being highly visible to both Parisians and visiting tourists at various sites across the city for an extended period.<ref>Vitry and Sage 2018, pp. 87-88.</ref>

As its instigator, RATP was granted authority to run the new link. The embryonic (and as yet unnamed) RER was not properly conceived until the 1965 {{lang|fr|Schéma directeur d'aménagement et d'urbanisme}} (roughly: 'master plan for urban development'), which envisioned an H-shaped network with two north–south routes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.institutparisregion.fr/documents-historiques-de-reference/schema-directeur-damenagement-et-durbanisme-de-la-region-de-paris-sdaurp/ |title=Schéma directeur d'aménagement et d'urbanisme de la région de Paris (SDAURP) |publisher=institutparisregion.fr |access-date=28 May 2023}}</ref> Between 1969 and 1970, RATP purchased the Vincennes and Saint-Germain lines from SNCF, as the basis for the east–west link.{{CN|date=May 2023}} Only a single north–south route crossing the [[Rive Gauche|Left Bank]] has so far come to fruition, although the Métro's line 13 has been extended to perform a similar function.

The RER's first phase of construction during the 1960s and 1970s was marked by scale and expense. In 1973 alone, [[French franc|FRF]] 2 billion were committed to the project in the budget, equating to roughly €1.37 billion in 2005 terms, and closer to double that as a proportion of the region's (then much smaller) economic output.{{r|cg2003|p=77|q=corresponding to around 9 billion francs in 2000}} The construction cost was controversial at the time of its construction.<ref name="bbc summary2004"/> This initial investment, along with subsequent spending, was partly financed by the ''[[versement transport]]'', a local tax levied on businesses that was introduced in July 1971. It has remained in effect into the twenty-first century.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://acegi.fr/Doc_Paie/Versement_transport.pdf |title = Versement transport |publisher = ACGEI |access-date = 11 November 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425154900/http://acegi.fr/Doc_Paie/Versement_transport.pdf |archive-date = 25 April 2012 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>