Metros in the Paris area accessible to disabled people.
Due to its underground configuration and age, the Paris metro network will never be fully accessible. However, the network has undergone major work to improve accessibility to transport and stations.
Physical disabilityLine 14, the most recent line on the network (inaugurated in 1998), offers full accessibility to wheelchair users. The lifts and wider passageways in each of the 9 stations enable wheelchair users to get around in complete autonomy. Access to metros is at the same level as the platform, with no gap. Vianavigo/Infomobi provides information in real time on the availability of lifts in the station.This metro line runs from Olympiades in the south-east of Paris to Saint-Lazare train station in the north-west and serves many tourist sites: François Mitterrand library, Bercy Village, parc de Bercy, the Cinémathèque Française, Les Halles shopping centre, the Louvre Museum, the Opéra Garnier district, the Madeleine, Pinacothèque de Paris, Grands Magasins, etc.
For visually-impaired people, hazard warning strips have been put on all platform edges of the Métro and RER networks. Blister raised surfaces are perceptible to a person’s feet or walking stick and warn blind and sight-impaired people of the proximity to the railway line.Plus, platform screen doors are gradually being introduced on the platforms of line 1 and 13 and are already present on line 14. As well as regulating the traffic, these doors give a sense of security to sight-impaired people.With the exception of line 14, the platforms of all the metro lines are equipped with a sound system for visual panels, announcing the waiting time before the next two metros and their direction. On each line, the two directions are indicated either by a male voice or a female voice in order to provide an extra means of information for visually-impaired people.
For the well-being of everyoneRATP signposting is visible, legible, consistent and easily comprehensible by everyone. It consists of sans serif fonts contrasted with the background they are on, and colour codes specific to each line. Renovated stations have larger signposting which increases visibility and legibility.
Once they are on board line 14, people in wheelchairs can park in the area opposite the doors. As metros on line 14 accelerate quickly, passengers are strongly advised to hold onto one of the many bars with which the metro carriages are equipped.
For visually-impaired people, metro carriages on lines 1, 4 and 14 have sound announcements to inform travellers of the next station that the metro will stop at.On all metros, passengers are alerted that the doors are about to close by a sound warning signal.
For people with a hearing impairment, the next station that the metro will stop at is also announced visually by a flashing light signal. So that travellers know what direction the metro is going in, the stations which the metro has already travelled through remain illuminated. These maps are already present in metro carriages on lines 2, 3 and 13. On line 1, metro carriages are equipped with screens which that show the next stations that the metro will stop at.Other metro lines will be similarly equipped during the renovation or renewal of metro carriages.
Find out more:Vianavigo.com / AccessibilityRATP / Accessibility rail network
