Arts et Métiers: a hidden wonder of the Paris Métro
Sci-fi nerds unite! Arts et Métiers is surely a contender for the title of the ‘world’s most surreal subway station’. Arts et Métiers is a Métro station that you’re less likely to visit than most. It’s nestled away on Line 11, one of the shortest lines on the Paris Métro, and is starkly lacking in tourist attractions […]
Funding for Vivarail’s D-Train withdrawn after fire
Vivarail’s D-Train experiment has come crashing to a halt following a fire on 30 December. The experimental unit was converted from ex-London Undergound D-Stock, freshly cascaded from the District Line in the capital and refurbished to an almost-unrecognisable standard. Vivarail had completely retrofitted the unit with diesel engines to create traction current for the electric […]
Gigantic order for new double decker trains placed for RER network
They often say ‘bigger is better’, and metro trains don’t come much bigger than the brand new trains for SNCF’s Transilien network. An Alstom-Bombardier consortium has won the contract to supply a whopping 255 trains for France’s Île-de-France network. The order, worth an estimated 3.75 billion euros, is the largest contract ever financed by STIF, the authority […]
In pictures: Buses of the #TubeStrike
The Tube was hit by yet another strike this week. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Londoners (well, not for those with at least a passing interest in buses, anyway). 150 extra buses on 40 routes were drafted in to help with the crowds of commuters displaced from the besieged London Underground. Routemasters and […]