Le Métro

Younger by about four decades than the underground systems in London or New York, the Paris Métro is just over one hundred years old. The first line from Porte de Vincennes to Porte Maillot, was opened in July 1900, and included 18 stations. The civil engineer in charge of the project was Fulgence Bienvenüe and, in tribute to the "Père du métro", Montparnasse-Bienvenüe station was named after him. The station name also honoured the region where Bienvenüe was born, Brittany, as trains from Brittany carrying workers to the capital usually arrived at Montparnasse railway station.

To draw public attention to this new means of transport, talented architects were asked to design huge entrances and signs. Hector Guimard was certainly the most famous. His metalwork creations beautifully exploited the whiplash line of Art Nouveau, in spite of the apparently massive nature of the medium. Unfortunately, most of these dramatic structures were discarded as time passed, until André Malraux, Minister of Arts and Culture in the 1960s, had seven of the surviving entrances listed as genuine works of art and protected as such. Another fourteen were saved ten years later. They can still be seen, for instance, at Pigalle, Tuileries or Cité. Some, like the well-preserved Porte Dauphine, with glass roofs widely displayed like fans, were even more elaborate, but as they were particularly vulnerable, they soon disappeared. Another artist, Cassien-Bernard, designed the typical low white walls with elegant balusters that were built wherever perspective had to be respected, as in front of the Opera and La Madeleine, or at Concorde and Champs-Elysées-Clémenceau. Saint-Jacques station is quite remarkable too: a red brick building with panels of white and shining earthenware tiles inside, it looks rather like a traditional butcher's shop!

The Paris Métro carries over 6 million people per day on nearly 200km of track to over 650 stations. Strangely enough, while the trains may be susceptible to many dangers, due to confinement, fire or water, serious accidents are very rare. The network has been flooded only once, in 1910, but in August 1903 there was a great fire at Couronnes: most of the travellers got out safely, except for a hundred who lost their lives through staying on the platform in order to get their tickets refunded.