A Transit System of EPIC Proportions | Paris RER

Thanks for watching our videos this year! We have a full playlist of all of the explainer videos here if you want something to watch! youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoYcvp1EGSeL1hZCfeQodb…

Watching this on the RER

FUN FACT: the RER A was initially named Métro Express Régional Défense-Étoile. Only when the painter in charge of painting the signs realised that the acronym would spell MERDE (sh*t in French) they decided to rename it RER. 😂

It's refreshing to hear somebody speak about the RER with such enthusiasm! Being French, I usually hear people complaining about it 😅

Most suburban/urban rail systems like the RER or S-Bahn have a single city center tunnel with trains fanning out on either end. Meanwhile, Paris has FIVE TRUNK LINES on the RER. It's no wonder it's the example everyone looks to.

As a former Torontonian now living in Paris ... there is no way I could return to the transit of Toronto. Unlike the TTC, the metro and RER systems are an integral part of the city that the only time I think of taking any other form of transit is late at night. Edit: If you can ever avoid going to Chatelet-Les Halles, avoid it. It's so large that it can feel like you've walked 30 minutes just to catch a connection (you haven't, but it can feel that way).

Being french and from Paris, i will show this video to people i know saying "Paris has the WORST transportation network in the world." Being tired of this. Very good video Thanks a lot !

I grew up in Île-de-France on the J Transilien line till I moved out at 18 years old. Like any kid from the outer Parisian suburb, i had to take the train to get to high school, i took the train then RER then Metro to get to some events in Paris, I had to cross the entire region to visit friends, ... I used all kinds of transit systems in the entire region and Paris itself. If you ask local people about Paris and the region's transit system, most of them will tell you how it's terrible, always late, dirty, expensive, not enough convenient... And I would probably said the same thing when I was 18. All I could see about our trains and metros is the hours I spent standing up under the snow waiting for a train to arrive because of drivers on strike. All i could think is that it's barely functional and maintained, and people don't even care about it. So I didn't care either. Now almost 10 years older, I've been to other places. Lyon, Strasbourg, Annecy, and now living in Montréal Canada. Each time I come back home, I feel happy. Because what I used to think of as an eyesore and a national shame, I now know is actually something to be proud of, something that many people could not even dream of, something that is not to be taken for granted and normal. Heck, I didn't need a driver's license and a car to do anything for 18 years, I could just use my yearly 300€ Navigo card and go basically anywhere in the entire damn region and I thought this was normal! Traveling makes you change how you see your world. Even at a small scale.

A really nice video overall, you just forgot to mention how line C is gonna lose its loop to be replaced by a tram-train which will make looking at its map a bit less confusing

What impressed me and shocked first time I used RER was when a train pulled into station while another train was leaving... CRAZY tight service running. Literally stand on the platform and watch 2 trains at both ends, one speeding away another slowing to stop. 🤯

The RER is awesome. I remember the first time I visited Paris in 1988 and was amazed by the huge stations underground. In addition, the ride quality has something only the French can do. It feels like the trains are on air. Chatelet les Halles is a station of grand proportions. I think it is the only station in the world that has one metro line, line 4, with 2 stops within one station.

As someone who took RER A and B daily for years: We used to have single-level trains on the A, and while I tend to agree the new stock is mostly stairs, it's still somehow better and slightly less crowded!

A few precisions from a daily RER user : - RER A double-deckers are a great improvement in capacity,. The seat count may not be that impressive, but since the line is stupidly overcrowded at rush hour, the rows and platforms serve as standing place for unfortunate commuters such as your servant - The reason why RER B is still single-level is the height of that damned tunnel between Chatelet and Gare du Nord. It's regularly discussed to redo it, and the proposition is regularly dismissed as "nah, let's connect some random suburb instead" - RER E is currently expanding west, with stops at La Defense supposedly in 2024 and then a bucolic trip to Mantes some 30km away, the goal being,, believe it or not, to relieve line 1 and A. At this point we should just raze Paris and replace it by a 300m wide train line - All the RER lines should-would-could-eventuallould be connected by the Grand Paris project that would make a loop around the suburbs, allowing lower-class citizens to visit each others without bothering quality people in Paris, that's a great thing. The project is due to complete shortly before the Andromeda galaxy hits the Milky Way

17:10 I've always apreciated french unique engineering. You can see similair things in their cars and other industrial things; a unique way of doing things. It might not always be the best, but they try something different. Awesome in my book :)

Glad I could help making this video :) Nice job as usual It's interesting to note that RER A and B also contain among the oldest rail lines of France (and probably in the world), considering it's now being used as a frequent mass-transit system today is astonishing. RER A to St-Germain-en-Laye was finished in 1837 and was the first line of France to be built and used only for passenger transit. RER B southern side was built between 1846 and 1867, up to Luxembourg station (south of Chatelet les Halles but not that far) and is incredibly curving, imposing huge restrictions for choosing rolling stocks. Really puts the engineering challenges in their context. If anyone is wondering, line E is technically not part of the RER since RER lines are converted suburban Transilien lines that pass-through Paris. So, since it's stopping in Paris, it's not an RER yet. Most Parisians are not even aware the line exists since it doesn't go to important destinations outside of Paris. It was supposed to be extended to la Défense and further before 2000's, but the tunnel section between Saint-Lazare and Magenta caused subsidences above, shortly after opening. So they had to stop everything to repair that, it cost so much that the project had to be delayed (and they certainly could not continue like this under Paris). The RER B only has single-level trains because they couldn't upgrade to bi-level trains. Since the tunnel sections of the southern part is so old, they had to upgrade emergency exits first. Larger trains mean larger crowds, and evacuating them in a tunnel designed almost 200 years ago usually don't comply. That's why bi-level trains are coming out only now on this line.

Fantastic last 2022 video! I'll just add a precision : they "will" not build an intermediate station on line E at Porte Maillot : it IS built and currently in the finishing stage, much like the gigantic one under La Défense which has its own tracks separate from RER A. The West extension of line E is almost ready, phase 1 to Nanterre La Folie will soon open, then phase 2 up to the far reaching end of the Western suburbs will open a year later. There are a few videos available here showing the new stations (Porte Maillot, La Défense and Nanterre la Folie) of line E's West extension in a very advanced stage. Porte Maillot is particularly nice and interesting with its "light well". I'm very excited for the upcoming opening of phase 1. Sadly, the new rolling stock is delayed due a production issue, for which the region / IDFM is super angry as the new trains are absolutely needed for the high frequency goal to alleviate RER A's (and M1's) burden. Kudos for the video and enjoy your NYE.

I used the Paris Metro and RER for twenty years before I retired and generally found it pretty good. Having frequently used RER B to the south, it is a bit frustrating that there are so many stations where the train stops. Even more frustrating was that the RER didn't go within easy walking distance of where I wanted to go. However, that is a perennial issue with public transport: the further you go out from the centre of a metropolis, the more the radial lines fan out and the larger the areas that are not adequately served.

Watching now. Had the opportunity to ride the RER-A from Paris to Disneyland Paris this past August. Great system with fantastic frequency. As a regular rider of NJ Transit commuter rail and occasional rider of Metro North/LIRR, I wish the NYC area had such a service.

The RER is fantastic. The crazy thing is just the sheer size and scale of it all, the RER A has an 18km long Central tunnel and extended far far out, its like the precursor to the Elizabeth line with a similar length tunnel. But they have 5 of them! Albeit not as long, but 5 central tunnels all longer than 5km for a commuter rail network is just insane. The only thing that even comes close here in the UK is the Thameslink central tunnels (video on thameslink core would be cool) and northern city line (basically a giant tube tunnel for mainline trains), but those are smaller commuter railways. The sheer scale of the thing is just crazy

Personally, I'm french and I really think this video was extremely well explained and very clear. Great job !