How Tokyo's Subways Inspired the Paris

Feature Evolution of Urban Railways

How Tokyo’s Subways Inspired the Paris RER (Interconnection with SNCF Suburban Lines) Louis Sato and Philippe Essig

Introduction Original Master Plan in 1965 for RER A and Sceaux Line Extended to Châtelet (Les Halles) Station Each time a new idea prevails, the initial Cergy Pontoise Valmondois difficulties are forgotten fairly quickly. In (Second north–south axis) le Bourget Montesson (First north–south axis) town planning and transportation, it is always difficult to design and execute a Saint-Germain RER A project that alters long-established la Defense practices. However, during the last 30 Etoile Auber Châtelet Fontenay years, many metropolises worldwide Bry-sur-Marne Nation RER A Luxembourg Noisy-le-Grand have seen revolutions in the fields of Gare de Lagny Meaux transportation and urban traffic. Lyon This article recalls the situation 30 years Trappes (Second north–south axis) ago when a study of the Tokyo subway guided the design of the central station of Robinson Evry the Paris RER. (First north–south axis) Boissy St-Leger Paris Urban Network (Sceaux Line) in Early 70s

In 1970, the Paris urban railway network was based on principles dating back to the 1972 New RER Concept turn of the century when the Paris metro

was built. Commuter trains of French Ville Nouvelle National Railways (SNCF) terminated de Cergy Pontoise at the Paris stations of Saint-Lazare, Orry-la-Ville Aeroport Montparnasse, Austerlitz, Lyon, Est and Roissy CDG Nord and there was no line crossing Paris. The same situation applied to the Régie RER D Mitry-Claye Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) Sceaux commuter line serving the southern suburbs, which stopped at Luxembourg RER B Poissy RER A Station. The RATP Paris metro was mainly

serving Paris and its suburban extensions Saint-Germain were limited. la Defense Gare Etoile du Nord Auber Gare Fontenay Moreover, SNCF and RATP were two Châtelet de Lyon RER A Bry-sur-Marne Lagny distinctive public operators, running Luxembourg Noisy-le-Grand Meaux Nation incompatible rolling stock on different Ville Nouvelle gauges and standards; in practice, they de Marne la Vallee RER B were divided according to territory. (former Sceaux Line) Despite this state of affairs, a major new Robinson project called RER (Réseau Express RER D Régional) had been launched some years Boissy St-Leger before with the aim of building commuter St-Remy-les Chevreuses lines crossing the centre of Paris. The Master Plan approved in 1965 also Ville Nouvelle Ville Nouvelle included a northbound extension of the de Evry de Melun Ferral Sceaux Line to a new terminal with a transfer to Châtelet (Les Halles) new RER

36 Japan Railway & Transport Review 23 • March 2000 Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Central Station. The projects included in Tobu ended at the Yamanote Line. this scheme were granted major funding RATP–SNCF Interconnection But the Tokyo subways saw an interesting with the setting up of the new Ile-de-France revolution during the 1960s. Just like Paris, regional authority. Construction of the east– There was no precedent in Europe for a the early Tokyo subways had been built west line through the centre of Paris (RER subway interconnection between different inside the administrative boundaries of A) was proceeding quickly and there was companies. Problems arising from rolling Tokyo, and with a few exceptions, the lines an urgent need to decide the concept of stock interoperability, safety, operating terminated on the Yamanote Line. the Châtelet (Les Halles) Central Station standards, rules, revenue and cost However, the difficulties of making transfer between RER A and the extended sharing, etc., were issues that no-one in connections on the Yamanote Line coupled Sceaux Line. However, two questions were Paris had experienced. with the huge tidal surges of commuters, delaying the project: lead the Japanese Ministry of Transport to • Was it possible to conceive of cross- Steering Committee and Tokyo ensure that each new subway built in the platform transfers between the RER A as Reference City centre of Tokyo had good interconnections and RER B (extended Sceaux) lines? with other railway lines serving the suburbs. • Might trains of RATP and SNCF one day Today, the answer to these questions seems As a result, the Tokyo Metropolitan use the same tunnel and would it be obvious and cross-platform transfers with Government’s (TMG) Asakusa subway line feasible to interconnect their networks? 200-m long platforms and full-capacity was connected with Keisei Electric Railway These issues raised questions about well- trains have been in place for more than 20 at Oshiage Station in 1960, and with Keihin established management practices and years ever since the first SNCF–RATP Electric Express Railway at Sengakuji safety dating from the building of the first interconnection with the opening of the Station in 1968. The Teito Rapid Transit subway. However, solving these issues RER D line in 1995. However, at that time, Authority’s (TRTA) Hibiya subway line was offered the potential of more economic the solution did not seem obvious to also connected with Tobu Railway at design and more efficient services for users. anybody. Kita Senju in 1962, and with Tokyu The second half of this article on the RER Mr Gerondeau, Adviser to the Prime Corporation’s Toyoko Line at Naka Meguro project (p. 38) by Mr Philippe Essig, who Minister, established a steering committee in 1964. In each case, the central (mostly was in charge of these works at RATP, bringing together the directors of the underground) section between the two explains the importance of the issues and relevant public services, especially, Mr connections is served alternately by trains how they were resolved. Laure, Prefect (governor) and Director of of the subway operator (TMG or TRTA) and This first half explains the principles facing Equipment for the Ile-de-France Region, Mr each of the two connected private officials in charge of transport policies and Giraudet, the new Chairman of RATP, and operators. Similarly, the suburban sections urban planning. Mr Stern, Vice-Chairman of SNCF. on the outer sides are served alternately by Among the various studies launched by the trains of the subway and the private committee, the search for a reference city operators. The train crews usually change Cross-Platform Transfer was entrusted to a consulting firm where I at the connecting stations. Sometimes, was in charge of the town planning and trains are terminated at the connection In 1970, access to the Paris metro platforms transport department. We soon realized stations, but in such a case, cross-platform was controlled by automatic gates that that the Tokyo subways represented the transfer is used to facilitate a quick change. closed when a subway train entered the most relevant reference for Paris. Similarly, Akasaka Mitsuke Station in station. The gates could also be controlled Of course, Tokyo is very different from Paris, the centre of Tokyo has cross-platform in the case of unexpected events to prevent not least because its population is markedly connections to the TRTA Ginza and large crowds building up on platforms. In larger. Moreover, the behaviour of Marunouchi subway lines, both of which this case, passengers were held back in the Tokyoites on public transport is different have frequencies and traffic comparable to subway approach corridors. from that of Parisians. Finally, the structure the busiest subway lines in Paris. Despite the huge size of the RER project at and organization of the railway network in In view of this information, Messrs Châtelet (Les Halles) Station (where a Tokyo is very unlike that in Paris. Giraudet, Laure, Gerondeau, and Stern of 17-m wide platform was planned), there The circular Yamanote Line running around the steering committee decided to visit were fears that a sudden surge of passengers the heart of Tokyo has no parallel in Paris. Tokyo to observe these operations and onto the platform could not be managed In the late 1950s, all the radiating private meet the people running these lines. and that safety would be a problem. commuter lines like the Odakyu, Keio and

rules. TRTA kept the operation concession Design of Paris RER Central The Tokyo Visit for the tunnel in the central section, while Project the railway operators kept their domain in The steering committee visited the Tokyo the suburbs. Although all trains ran through Tokyo proved that cross-platform inter- subway in 1971 and saw the morning rush the central subway tunnel, the drivers connection was feasible and swept away hour, the connection stations on the Hibiya changed at the connection stations and all objections to its use in Paris. Line and the cross-platform change at only TRTA drivers were authorized to drive Moreover, it stimulated our imaginations Akasaka Mitsuke Station. The committee trains through the central tunnel. Revenue and allowed us to suddenly see the was also fascinated by the operation of the and cost sharing were also agreed in a possibility of the RER central project in Paris JNR Chuo Line terminal at Tokyo Station. similarly simple manner. and its interconnection. At that time, the Chuo Line was carrying At last, the reference frame for The RER station at Châtelet (Les Halles) and more than 100,000 passengers per hour at interconnections in Paris was set. the interconnection with the RER D line an extraordinary load factor. The Tokyo finally became realities. Station terminus consisted of a single 10-m Cross-Platform Connections at wide platform where 200-m trains Akasaka Mitsuke Station controlled by entry switching arrived and The RER Project left alternately. The headway between trains Observation of Akasaka Mitsuke Station was about 120 seconds and 3000 also made an important contribution. This Construction of the east–west RER A line passengers were getting off each train onto old station was built before WWII for was approved by General de Gaulle, then the single platform. today’s TRTA Ginza Line with curved two- President of the Republic and started in the storey platforms of varying width (about early 1960s under RATP, the organization 11m max.). In 1959, the TRTA Marunouchi responsible for public transport in Paris. It How Different from Paris Line was opened and cross-platform started with the two branches out of Paris transfer of passengers started between the from Nation to Boissy St Leger to the east, The first thing that the French mission two lines. and from Auber to St Germain en Laye to noted was the different carriage layout. By 1971, the explosion of railway urban the west passing through the newly The cars had more doors that were all passenger traffic in Tokyo had reached a developed la Defense business district. automatic and side bench seats, leaving critical level. Subway trains were The project soon ran into enormous more standing room. The passengers were overcrowded, station staff packed people difficulties linked to the geology of the area; more disciplined on the platform than in into carriages, passenger queues and flows the solution required new construction Paris, but moved with greater swiftness— were organized by lines on platforms, and methods at difficult sites, causing a they seemed more ‘easy to handle’. movement was controlled by audible considerable increase in costs. Finally, the But despite these differences, the French alarms. It was obvious that saturation had east branch entered service in December mission found what it was looking for—a been reached. It was also clear that the 1969 while the west branch was opened concrete example of how connections passengers’ situation was safer and less in stages from January 1970 to September worked in a subway network with a similar unpleasant when simply crossing platforms 1972. But traffic on these two external design to Paris and separating the suburbs rather than going through passages and up branches, like SNCF’s suburban lines, and the centre of the urban area. and down stairs. Moreover, the famous remained limited because the overall work Enormous difficulties had been overcome Parisian subway gate clearly could not cope could not demonstrate its true potential in Tokyo. The rolling stock sizes and with the massive flows generated by a mass until completion of the missing-link section standards, track gauge, power supply and transit system. between Auber and Nation through Gare sometimes even current type were different Obviously, not every technique was de Lyon, the terminus for suburban lines of between the subway and commuter lines. transposable between Tokyo and Paris but the SNCF southeast network. Interconnection meant revising the we all knew that the questions faced in Paris Unfortunately, the cost overruns were so standards and renovating lines while they could be answered by intelligent huge that the government was questioning were in operation. observation of this old saturated station in the appropriateness of the investment and However, each operator kept its identity Tokyo. two debates started: and administration because the connection • The first concerned the project for the had been negotiated with well-defined future Châtelet-les Halles Station where

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(Adapted from JR Timetable)

Cross-Platform Connection between TRTA Marunouchi and Ginza Lines at Akasaka Mitsuke Station

JNR/JR lines Subways

to Shinjuku Stairs between Ikebukuro Marunouchi platforms Line Asakusa A Marunouchi Line to Ikebukuro Shinjuku Ginza Line Upper platform Akasaka Shibuya Mitsuke A Ginza Line to Asakusa to Shibuya

Substation

Cross section A-A Centre of station: 12.474 km from Ikebukuro to Shibuya to Shinjuku

to Asakusa to Ikebukuro Ginza Marunouchi Line Line

(Adapted from TRTA’s Marunouchi construction records)

SNCF–RATP Interconnection Project in 1972

Orry-la-Ville Aeroport Roissy CDG created joining the SNCF lines of the Mitry-Claye southeast suburbs to those of the northwest Gare du Nord suburbs using the same lines as the east– Cergy south RER A line and the north–south RER B line between Gare de Lyon, Châtelet, and Saint-Germain Auber Gare du Nord. Marne-la-Vallee The project was presented to SNCF and the Boissy Châtelet-les-Halles St-Leger government in early 1972 and approved Nation with enthusiasm in July 1972.

Evry Melum Gare de Lyon Implementing Interconnection Luxembourg Robinson St-Remy-les Chevreuses From 1972, the work of constructing the central Auber–Nation section of the RER A line and the extension of the Sceaux Line from Luxembourg to Châtelet and then from the Sceaux Line was to be extended to the fact that the capacity of a metro line is Châtelet to Gare du Nord went busily meet the RER A line; would cross- not limited by traffic inside the tunnels but ahead. Openings followed one after platform exchange between the two is instead limited by train standing time at another from early 1977 until 1983 when lines be possible? stations, it quickly became obvious that by the north–south RER B line was finished. • The second was implementation of the doubling the tracks in the future Châtelet However, completion of this line was made RER A line. The government was Station, it would be possible to greatly in stages due to delays in delivery of rolling thinking that construction of the increase the number of trains moving in stock designed for interconnections. Auber–Nation section could not be the tunnel between Gare de Lyon and In the meantime, the promise offered by justified unless it permitted circulation Châtelet. interconnecting the SNCF and RATP of some SNCF trains of the southeast But then what to do with those trains networks had persuaded the government suburban lines to pass through the Gare beyond Châtelet Station? We couldn't and others responsible for Ile-de-France of de Lyon and run on new track to la dispatch them any further on the RER A line its merit and they asked for other extensions Defense. because the Auber and Charles de Gaulle of this concept, particularly west of Paris The principal problem was whether Etoile stations only had one track with a to serve the new city of Cergy Pontoise and operators as different as RATP and SNCF platform in each direction according to the the industrial developments in the Seine could run mixed traffic, coupled with classical model of metro stations. valley downstream of Paris towards Poissy. important technical problems, such as Suddenly, a new idea appeared—extending Thus, the government finally gave priority different signalling, platform heights, the Sceaux Line north beyond Châtelet and to development of the interconnection west arrangement of conductor's cab, operation linking it to the SNCF north network lines. of Paris before starting the third RER D line regulations, and fares. A new underground station was conceived, between the southeast and northeast As Louis Sato mentions in his first part of one which could serve two tracks with a suburbs. this article about the influence of Tokyo's platform in each direction. The west interconnection entered service subway on the concept of the Paris RER, a When the mission returned from Tokyo, the in 1987, and 1995 saw the whole RER D committee visited Japan in 1971 to confirm synthesis of these ideas helped formulate line accomplished. In the meantime, an the feasibility of station cross-platform the concept of the new RER network important intermediary stage was marked connections on the one hand, and the project. The two north–south lines of the by the extension of SNCF trains to the feasibility of through operations by different 1965 Master Plan (see maps on p. 36) were northern suburbs to Châtelet in 1987. operators in the same tunnels. replaced by only one north–south line Today, Paris has an exceptional regional In parallel, at that time, I was working on formed by the Sceaux Line extended north network fully meeting the needs of the the question of interconnection of networks to airport Roissy CDG. region. However, this network has been a to analyze their limits and constraints. On the other hand, thanks to the victim of its own success. The traffic on Departing from the Tokyo example, with interconnection, a third RER line could be the RER A line was so heavy that from early

40 Japan Railway & Transport Review 23 • March 2000 Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved. RER A train running in Paris western suburb (Yoshihiko Sato) RER B train at Charles de Gaulle Airport (EJRCF)

1990, the government decided to create a • Differences in power supply and service levels on each network. new east–west RER E line. The preliminary The RATP trains and some SNCF trains Finally, it was necessary to settle very phase connecting the SNCF east suburban were powered by 1500 V DC while the complex administrative problems, lines with two new metro stations inside other SNCF lines were powered by 25 some of them with fiscal impact. Paris at Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, KV AC. It was necessary to be able to • Commercial problems and the other with the Gare St Lazare swap from one system to the other RATP and SNCF quickly came to an entered service on 14 July 1999. without stopping the train and without agreement on the concept of a common The entire new east–west line is expected passengers knowing it—electrical RER, but it was not easy to obtain a to be completed during the next decade. engineers found the solution with consensus on implementing this electronic devices using Gate Turn-Off concept, because each company was Technical, Commercial, Social thyristor (GTO) components. looking to get the glory for itself. and Operational Problems • Differences in platform height • Driving customs SNCF platforms varied in height from RATP drivers generally sat while at The network was completed through the 0.60 to 0.90 m while RATP platforms SNCF at that time, they preferred outstanding collaboration between the were 1.10 m. The problem was standing. On RATP trains, the brake RATP and SNCF teams to make the trains resolved by using carriages with handle is to the right of the driver while compatible with the two networks, to adopt variable step height—in this case, on the SNCF, the brake handle is to the common signalling and control, and to mechanics won the game. left. One may laugh, but it was not a settle difficult commercial and social • Finances small task to adapt the geometry of the problems concerning the working First, it was necessary to unify the fare driver’s seat or to use a double brake conditions of the conductors and structure, tickets, and ticket gates, some handle. personnel. of which were automatic and some There were many other details I don't want These issues were not inconsequential and manual. This was facilitated by the to explain at length in this article, but what involved real problems. But the will to creation of the popular carte orange is important is that without the Japanese succeed, the Tokyo reference model, and used by most Ile-de-France commuters. reference model as a start, there would the progress of technology, made it happen. Next, it was necessary to decide how never have been interconnection of the The most difficult problems were: to share the takings from the joint traffic RATP and SNCF networks in Paris. I

Louis Sato Philippe Essig

Mr Sato is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Mr Essig graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées. He is Chairman of Sato et Associés, National des Ponts et Chaussées. After working 10 years in Africa, he consulting engineers in Paris for strategic planning and project joined RATP and served as Managing Director from 1981 to 1985. He management. He has been involved in transportation and urban was president of SNCF from 1985 to 1988 and then State Secretary development projects in Paris and major French cities as well as in the for Housing in the first government of Prime Minister M. Rocard. He Beirut Reconstruction Master Plan, the Channel Tunnel Transmanche later became president of TransManche Link, the business consortium consortium and other tunnel projects in Paris, Lisbon and Lille. that built the Channel Tunnel.