What if…
January 25, 2010
What if Paris, instead to inter connect its regional express train network, as know as RER, in this last 40 years, had preferred to save the money to criss-cross the region with streetcars…and to be sure with the cost of the inter-connections done all in an already crowded subterranean Paris, miles and miles of streetcars lines could have been built,… but which map makes more sense?
Current map of the existing Paris’s express transit system (RER)
Fiction map drawn by a Vancouverite hardcore streetcar fan: differences with the previous map are that the Paris underground connections built since 1961 are missing. fictions streetcar lines are not represented, because with the cost saving of not linking the suburban express train lines, you can literally litter the whole area and elsewhere with streetcar lines from nowhere to anywhere
According to the position of some Vancouverite streetcar fans dismissing the case to have a well interconnected rapid transit network (like connecting the Millenium line with the Canada line), Paris could have been way better off with the second, fiction, map…Really?
The name "Voony" comes from the name of the author's family cat. The author is the guy in the picture. This blog revolves mainly around transportation and urban issues in the Vancouver area.
January 25, 2010 at 8:20 am
Some things are wrong in the map, I think the western RER A would still terminate Saint Lazare (Central Paris close to the RER E Haussmann Saint Lazare).
It is what did the old line to Saint Germain, the old line to Poissy.
The Eastern RER A would serve central Paris with Bastille station near Gare de Lyon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gare_de_La_Bastille.
Anwyay it would be a terrible thing for the transport, I doubt that Paris would build streetcar that it closed 30 years before.
So where the money would go ?
The RER system of today is maybe not prefect but it is a way better than this horrible vision.
January 25, 2010 at 10:15 am
Thanks for your observation Minato:
yes, the eastern branch of RER A was originally terminating at La Bastille, and western was going to Saint Lazare (but by which route?). I will update the map accordingly, but it doesn’t change the fact it could be still missing a connection without the central link built
April 18, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Hey there!
I was considering adding a hyperlink back to your site since both of our
web sites are based mostly around the same niche. Would you prefer
I link to you using your site address: http:
//voony.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/what-if/ or blog title: What if… | Voony’s Blog. Please let me know! Kudos