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nThenunderground trains of Paris—in other words, the subway—opened fornthe first time on this date in 1900.
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nThenfirst line that opened provided transport to the 1900 summer OlympicnGames at the Bois de Vincennes. Parisians immediately loved thenMetro—and thirty thousand tickets were sold on the first day alone!
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nThatnfirst year, 17 million passengers used the Metro—even though thensubway “system” consisted of only one line.
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nNowadays, there arenfourteen lines, and more than four million passengers ride the trainsnEVERY DAY! That comes up to a grand total of more than 1.47 BILLIONnper year! That makes the Paris Metro the second busiest subway systemnin Europe.
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n(Want to guess the #1 busiest in Europe? How about thenbusiest in the world? Answers at the bottom of the post.)
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nOnenof the system’s stations, Chatelet-Les Halles, which has five Metronlines and three RER commuter rail lines, is the world’s largest Metronstation.
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nThenMetro is known for its Art Nouveau entrances.
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nHowndo you build train tracks BELOW a city?
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Mostnof the underground lines were laid under already-existing streets.nThe soil of Paris is not conducive to deep digging, so most of thenlines are not that far below the surface, and they were created withnwhat is called the “cut-and-cover” method. This involved diggingna deep trench along a main street. (In order to keep traffic to anminimum, this was often done one small section at a time.) The trenchnwas lined with brick or concrete, and then given a roof of strongnsteel girders. Then the trench section was covered with road,nsidewalk, or whatever..and the construction area was moved down tonthe end of the section just built. This cut-and-cover method ofntunnel building is quite inexpensive and therefore often used today.
Mostnof the underground lines were laid under already-existing streets.nThe soil of Paris is not conducive to deep digging, so most of thenlines are not that far below the surface, and they were created withnwhat is called the “cut-and-cover” method. This involved diggingna deep trench along a main street. (In order to keep traffic to anminimum, this was often done one small section at a time.) The trenchnwas lined with brick or concrete, and then given a roof of strongnsteel girders. Then the trench section was covered with road,nsidewalk, or whatever..and the construction area was moved down tonthe end of the section just built. This cut-and-cover method ofntunnel building is quite inexpensive and therefore often used today.n
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Therenare exceptions to the shallow-tunnel generalization, includingntunnels that go underneath Paris’s river, the Seine. Metallicncaissons from 20 to 40 meters long were assembled on the bank of thenriver and then gradually driven into the river bed, apparentlynproviding an interesting spectacle for passersby. (A caisson is anlarge watertight chamber that is open at the bottom, used duringnconstruction work done under water. The water is kept out by airnpressure.) In order bore the tunnel, the ground was frozenn(extra-super-duper frozen, at minus 24 degrees Celsius!) usingncalcium chloride brine.
Therenare exceptions to the shallow-tunnel generalization, includingntunnels that go underneath Paris’s river, the Seine. Metallicncaissons from 20 to 40 meters long were assembled on the bank of thenriver and then gradually driven into the river bed, apparentlynproviding an interesting spectacle for passersby. (A caisson is anlarge watertight chamber that is open at the bottom, used duringnconstruction work done under water. The water is kept out by airnpressure.) In order bore the tunnel, the ground was frozenn(extra-super-duper frozen, at minus 24 degrees Celsius!) usingncalcium chloride brine.n
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nTonlearn how some subway tunnels are built these days, check out thenWashington Post’s infographic.
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nANSWERS to questions above:nThe busiest subway system in Europe is Moscow, Russia, and thenbusiest in the world is in Tokyo, Japan. Paris’s Metro is only #8 innthe world, behind: Toyko, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Moscow; Beijing,nChina; Shanghai, China; Guangzhou, China; New York City, U.S. n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nArts and Artists Day
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nAnniversary of the first parking meters.
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