Metro Speed

Hi

I need to catch the metro from the La Tour Maubourg station to the Gare Du Nord to catch the Eurostar. How long should I expect this trip to take?

I have no idea what to expect as I%26#39;ve never used an underground system before. It looks like I will need to change at least once, at the Strasbourg St Denis.

Thanks for helping out a country bumpkin!

-Shelley :)

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From LA TOUR MAUBOURGE (change train at Strasbourg-Saint Denis) to the EUROSTAR departure platfoms at Gare du Nord should take you approx. 20-25 mins. (allow 30 mins for train wait-times and missteps along the way...and the looong CORRESPONDANCE from the arrival platforms of the #4 Metro ligne to the train platforms at Gare du Nord).

But it would be more useful to you if you familiarized yourself with some of the features and information available through the RATP%26#39;s web site...as an example, the %26#39;..ITINÉRAIRE..%26#39; feature. You can %26#39;..tinker with this feature by enterring LA TOUR-MAUBOURG as your %26#39;..Départ..%26#39; STATION and GARE du NORD as your %26#39;..Arivée..%26#39; STATION and Select / Check the appropriate boxes for Mode and Date Time.. You%26#39;ll find the %26#39;..exercise..%26#39; and the %26#39;..tinkering..%26#39; useful and worthwhile for other public transportation questions and information.

RATP--

http://www.ratp.fr/

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Thanks KDKSail, must admit I%26#39;d looked at their site, and downloaded the maps on pdf, but found the rest a bit confusing (more having to know exact station). Does the Paris metro usually run bang on time?

Thanks, Shelley :)

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The Paris metro is excellent, a train arrives approx every 5 mins, there is usually a digital clock counting down until the next arrival on most platforms too, which is normally bang on the time it says.

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The whole idea of the metro system is more or less that you don%26#39;t have to worry about time tables - you just go to the platform and wait until a train arrives. In the busy hours, you can expect a train within 1 or 2 minutes; when it%26#39;s quieter (later in the evening, sundays, etc.) you might have to wait 12 minutes or so.

The RATP itinerary says the entire trip should take 25-30 minutes.

On the website, you can also find when the first and last trains of the day leave, and the frequency of trains: www10.ratp.info/orienter/horaires_metro1.php

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In so far as the First %26amp; Last Trains of the day are concerned, yes...during the rest of the day train frequency on the various lignes remains pretty much in line with the posted frequency (it may be underground...but it%26#39;s still a railroad, so schedules do matter). During most of the day almost all Metro lignes will run with no more than three-to-five minutes between trains in both directions. So wait-times for trains are seldom more than two-to-four minutes. Where time can occasioanally be eaten up in traveling on one point to another is when you must transfer between lignes at a few of the larger train station complexes (Chatelet / Chatelet-Les Halles / Les Halles, Saint Michel / Saint Michel Notre Dame...and at least for me personally the Republique station complex somehow manages to defy my most careful reading of maps, diagrams and signage is a %26#39;black hole%26#39; and no matter what I do, I always seem to get %26#39;turned around%26#39; in this damned station--my own personal %26#39;Bermuda Triangle%26#39;). But for the most part, the CORRESPONDANCES between different lignes in most stations is fairlly simple and straightforward. In your particular instance though, the CORRESPONDANCE between the arrival platforms and the SNCF/TGV train portion of the large Gare du Nord station complex may be one of the longest in the system.

As noted, the RATP web site is chock filled with all sorts of useful information and is a great %26#39;..tool..%26#39;....but I%26#39;ll be the first to admit that you do need to spend some time %26#39;..tinkering..%26#39; with it--trial %26amp; error--to get a %26#39;feel%26#39; for it. It%26#39;s not the most user-friendly or %26#39;..intuitive..%26#39; site...but with a bit of practice and patience, you can usually coax, cajole or con the information you want or need out of it. It really is a practical and worthwhile %26#39;..resource..%26#39; to invest some time in and cultivate.

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One other point -- if it%26#39;s during %26quot;rush hour%26quot; on the Metro it can be extremely crowded (especially with luggage). Not a reason not to do it, but perhaps a reason to allow some extra time. Otherwise, it%26#39;s a great way to get around especially because there really is no pressure to get a particular train since they run so close together.

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KDK, I think you are a bit confused about the Metro/main concourse transfer at Gare du Nord - from Line 4 to the said concourse, it%26#39;s pretty quick (virtually no corridor, and there are escalators). No more than 5 minutes, even with luggage.

Perhaps were you thinking of the Line 4/concourse transfer at Montparnasse Bienvenüe, which is indeed very long and painful.

For what it%26#39;s worth, the maximum commercial speed on the Métro is 70 km/h (80 km/h on Line 14). The average speed is between 14 and 21 km/h.

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