{"history":[],"article":{"id":"638d32e4-3e5f-42a1-97ac-481f943db80b","title":"Paris Métro Line 12","slug":"paris-m-tro-line-12","content":":::summary\n![Paris Métro Line 12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Concorde///metro///stop%2C///Paris///2007.jpg)\n**Box Width:** 350px \n**Image Caption:** The line's platforms at [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-station), covered by the text of the [Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen](https://bliptext.com/articles/declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-and-of-the-citizen) \n**Line Color:** # \n**Text Color:** white \n**Line Name:** Line 12 \n**Network:** [Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) \n**Locale:** [Saint-Denis](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-denis-seine-saint-denis), [Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/aubervilliers), [Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris), Issy-les-Moulineaux \n**Year Opened:** 5 \n**Terminus:** [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-station) [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-station) \n**Operator Org:** [RATP](https://bliptext.com/articles/ratp-group) \n**Conducting System:** Conductor (PA) \n**Rolling Stock:** [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) (51 trains as of 30 July 2023 \n**Number Stations:** 31 \n**Length:** 17.2 \n**Electrification:** 750 [V](https://bliptext.com/articles/volt) [DC](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-current) [third rail](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-rail) \n**Dist Between Stations:** 573 \n**Passengers Per Year:** 84.3 million \n**Traffic Rank:** 11th/16 (2017) \n:::\n\n# \n**[Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) Line 12** (opened as **Line A**; [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language): Ligne 12 du métro de Paris) is one of the sixteen lines of the [Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro).\nIt links [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux), a suburban town southwest of Paris, to [Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/aubervilliers), in the north.\nWith around 54 million passengers per year, Line 12 was the twelfth busiest line of the network in 2021.\nIt has several major stops, such as [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro) and two national railway stations, [Gare Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-montparnasse) and [Gare Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-saint-lazare).\nThe service runs every day of the week, and the line uses [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) series trains, the network's standard since the early 1970s.\nLine 12 was founded as Line A by the [Nord-Sud Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/nord-sud-company), who also built [Line 13](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-13).\nIt was built between 1905 and 1910, to connect the districts of [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse), in the south, and [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre), in the north.\nThe first trip, from [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles) to [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro), was on 5 November 1910.\nThe line was the second to be built on the north–south axis of the city, in competition with [Line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4) of the [Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/compagnie-du-chemin-de-fer-m-tropolitain-de-paris) (CMP; Paris Metropolitan Railway Company).\nIt was extended southward bit by bit until 1934 when it reached [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro) in the south.\nTunnelling to the northern terminus at the [Porte de la Chapelle](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-la-chapelle-paris-m-tro) on the [perimeter](https://bliptext.com/articles/thiers-wall) of Paris had been completed in 1916.\nIn 1930, the CMP bought the Nord-Sud company and Line A was integrated into the new, unified network as Line 12.\nIn 1949, the CMP was itself merged into the [RATP](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-gie-autonome-des-transports-parisiens), Paris's public transport company.\nThey operate the line today and have plans to extend it south as far as the town of [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux) and north to La Plaine in [Saint-Denis](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-denis-seine-saint-denis).\nThe line was built using [cut-and-cover](https://bliptext.com/articles/cut-and-cover) excavation techniques.\nSince this method cannot be used under buildings, the route follows the streets above.\nIt remains unchanged today and many original design features, such as the Nord-Sud company's refined ceramic decor, remain in the stations.\nSome stations are decorated thematically: [Assemblée Nationale](https://bliptext.com/articles/assembl-e-nationale-paris-m-tro) has murals explaining the intricacies of the [lower house](https://bliptext.com/articles/lower-house) of the [French Parliament](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-parliament), while the tiling at [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro) represents an extract from the [Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen](https://bliptext.com/articles/declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-and-of-the-citizen) (1789).\n\n# History\n# [Tribute to Jean-Baptiste Berlier in the Saint-Lazare station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Saint-Lazare///05.jpg]\n\n## Planning (1901–1905)\nEngineer [Jean-Baptiste Berlier](https://bliptext.com/articles/jean-baptiste-berlier) proposed to the City of Paris to finance and build a new line linking the areas of [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre) and [Gare Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-saint-lazare) in the north with [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse) and Vaugirard in the south.\nThe line would establish a second north–south transport axis of the city, west of the existing [line four](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-metro-line-4).\nBerlier's design of two deep, parallel, iron-lined tunnels was modelled on the [London Underground](https://bliptext.com/articles/london-underground) system.\nThis method allowed the straightest line possible to be built, without passing underneath buildings and free from interference with underground sewers.\nThe City Council liked the plan and on 28 December 1901 granted the tender for a Montparnasse-Montmartre line to Messrs Janicot and Berlier.\nIn June 1902, a new company, new competitor of the \"Parisian Metropolitan Rail Company\" (CMP), was established : the [Nord-Sud Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/nord-sud-company) (in French ).\nThe grant to build what would become Line A was transferred to the Nord-Sud Company; which was approved on 26 March 1907.\nWhile the infrastructure of the CMP was financed by the city corporation, Nord-Sud project was the sole responsibility of the Nord-Sud Company.\nThe link between two important but distant urban centres guaranteed heavy traffic for the line and it would also directly compete with the CMP and tramway companies, threatening their monopoly across the city.\nThe City was wary of inciting new demands to license other lines, and of eventually provoking [industrial disorder](https://bliptext.com/articles/strike-action), something already experienced on the tramway network.\nFrench law required a [Déclaration d'utilité publique](https://bliptext.com/articles/d-claration-d-utilit-publique) (\"Declaration of Public Utility\"), a statement of the project's public benefit before municipal construction, the concerns meant that it was not promulgated for the 6.216 km line until 3 April 1905.\nThe law announced the creation \"of [] public utility, of local interest, this establishment, in Paris, of a railroad, electrically powered, dedicated to the transport of passengers and their hand-luggage, from Montmartre to Montparnasse\".\nThe law became active on 19 July 1905, the southern terminus was at Porte de Versailles, 3.154 km long, with a northern branch from Gare Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen.\nOn 10 April 1908, the northern extension from Place des Abbesses to Place Jules Joffrin, 1.32 km long, was in turn authorised, followed by the final section to Porte de la Chapelle (2.067 km) on 24 January 1912.\n\n## Construction and opening (1907–1910)\nThe boggy undersoil of Paris made it impossible for the engineers to follow their initial concept of deeply excavated, metal-lined tunnels: digging deeper to more stable ground would raise costs.\nThe line was finally established immediately underneath the streets using the [cut and cover](https://bliptext.com/articles/cut-and-cover) method of the CMP's lines, then the standard in use on the Metropolitan system.\nAs a consequence, the layout contains several difficult curves especially in the northern part where narrow streets have a winding route.\nThe line had 23 stations, all with vaulted roof construction.\nAn interchange with lines A and B was established at Saint-Lazare, but there was no connection with the CMP's lines.\nWork on the sub-fluvial tunnel underneath the [Seine](https://bliptext.com/articles/seine), between the Chambre des Députés station (now known as [Assemblée nationale](https://bliptext.com/articles/assembl-e-nationale-paris-m-tro)) and [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), took place between July 1907 and July 1909.\nThis 657 m long section runs through a bed of [limestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/limestone) after a break in the sand on the [Rive Gauche](https://bliptext.com/articles/rive-gauche).\nThe under-river passage was bored by two early [tunnel boring machines](https://bliptext.com/articles/tunnel-boring-machine), each with an external diameter of 5.24 m. The head of the machine cut into the rock, while in two intermediate chambers 24 hydraulic jacks exerted a pressure of 2.4 t on the rock walls so the machine could advance.\nAt the back, a mobile arm turned on the axis of the [tunnelling shield](https://bliptext.com/articles/tunnelling-shield) to install panels on walls of the tunnel.\nThe two tubes, with an internal diameter of 5 m, were made from 60 cm thick rings of [cast iron](https://bliptext.com/articles/cast-iron).\nEach ring was constructed from ten 1.54 m panels, with one 0.77 m counter-key panel and a 0.29 m key panel to lock the segments in place.\nThe casing extended 548 m downstream and 533 m upstream.\nThe two tubes are not parallel: the distance between them varies from 5.80 to 18.60 m. Work was delayed by the [1910 Great Flood of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/1910-great-flood-of-paris).\nDuring the works, the future Chambre des Députés station housed an air and water compressor.\nThe compressed air prevented the collapse of the digging shield from the weight of the waters above.\nThe tubes, initially unlined apart from the cast iron rings, were covered with an internal protective layer of masonry in 1920.\nThe section from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was inaugurated on 4 November 1910 and opened to the public on the next day.\nPorte de Versailles was set up as a terminus station with a connection to a workshop.\nThe latter was joined by to the [Petite Ceinture](https://bliptext.com/articles/chemin-de-fer-de-petite-ceinture) rail line, which allowed for the transfer of trains between lines.\nAt the other end, the provisional terminus at [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-metro) was set up with three tracks including a central depot.\nOn the opening day, public representatives rode from Notre-Dame-de-Lorette to Porte de Versailles, and returned to Gare Saint-Lazare for a buffet held in the rotunda.\nThe press reports were laudatory, commenting on the smoothness of journey, and their brightness of the stations.\nFrom the beginning, the traffic on the line was significant and the quantity of rolling stock had quickly to be increased.\nFrom 5 November 1910 until 30 June 1911, the line carried 29,263,610 passengers.\n# [Indication of the terminus Porte de Versailles on a Nord-Sud Sprague-Thomson train | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Destination///Porte///de///Versailles.jpg]\n\n## Developments to the present\nOn 8 April 1911, the line was extended north to [Pigalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/pigalle-paris-m-tro).\nA subsequent three station extension to [Jules Joffrin](https://bliptext.com/articles/jules-joffrin-paris-m-tro) proved particularly difficult.\nThe route passed underneath the hill of Montmartre, which had long been quarried and mined for [gypsum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gypsum) to make [plaster of paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/plaster).\nDuring the construction of the tunnel, numerous unknown quarries were discovered forcing a change in the line's route to avoid them.\nThe two intermediate stations, [Abbesses](https://bliptext.com/articles/abbesses-paris-m-tro) and [Lamarck – Caulaincourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/lamarck-caulaincourt-paris-m-tro), are particularly deep: here the tunnels are situated 36 m and 25 m below ground level, respectively.\nThe engineers constructed arches underground to support the weight of the gypsum above.\nThe extension was put into service on 30 October 1912.\nWork on the final extension northwards began in September 1912, but the tunnel was not finished at the beginning of the First World War.\nThough lacking personnel, the construction work continued at a slower pace.\nOn 23 August 1916, in the middle of the war, the line reached [Porte de la Chapelle](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-la-chapelle-paris-m-tro).\nThis extension comprised three new stations, of which the final included three tracks and two central platforms, the central track being used by trains leaving or arriving.\nLine A intersected with Line 4 at [Marcadet – Poissonniers](https://bliptext.com/articles/marcadet-poissonniers-paris-m-tro), but no transfer had yet been set up.\nOn 1 January 1930, the CMP absorbed the Nord-Sud company, and line A became line 12 of the Métropolitain network on 27 March 1931.\nThe line that bore the number 12 in the 1922 plan for a complementary network, from [Porte d'Orleans](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-d-orleans) to [Porte d'Italie](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-d-italie-paris-m-tro), was abandoned.\nThinking that the number of trains on the line was insufficient, the CMP transferred four trains from their holding to augment the service.\nThe Nord-Sud company lines were powered through overhead cables, whereas the [third rail](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-rail) system was in use on the CMP's network.\nWith the ownership transition, the CMP standard was adopted on the lines 12 and 13.\nAs a result, the overhead cables of the Nord-Sud were decommissioned in 1932, one year after those of line 13.\n[Pantographs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pantograph-rail) continued to be used in the Vaugirard workshop.\nTo improve the connection of the lines and facilitate the transfer of the carriages, a new link was built in 1935, between the [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse-bienven-e-paris-m-tro) station and the [Vavin](https://bliptext.com/articles/vavin-paris-m-tro) station of line 4.\nOn 12 July 1928, the [Seine](https://bliptext.com/articles/seine-department) [general council](https://bliptext.com/articles/general-councils-france) decided to extend the Métropolitain by 1.5 km, taking it beyond the limit of Paris so that line A would serve the town of Issy-les-Moulineaux with two new stations.\nWork began in 1931 and led to the relocation of [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro) station further from the city, the new station being set up with two platforms staggered by 40 m. The platforms of the old station were removed and sidings were installed to house trains not in use.\nThe extension comprised only two stations with 75 m long platforms, terminating at standard two track station, followed by a reversing area.\nOn 24 March 1934, the southern extension to [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro) was inaugurated, the same day as that of line 1 to [Château de Vincennes](https://bliptext.com/articles/ch-teau-de-vincennes-paris-m-tro).\nOn the night of 20 April 1944, during the [Liberation of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberation-of-paris), the freight station of Porte de la Chapelle and the RATP central workshop on rue Championnet were bombarded.\nThe former, which is also the line's terminus, was severely damaged though hasty repairs returned it to service a few days later.\nThe line was equipped with a centralised control room in 1971.\nIn 1977 the use of [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) rolling stock allowed the inauguration of [Automatic Train Control](https://bliptext.com/articles/automatic-train-control) on Line 12.\n[A project to extend the line northwards](https://bliptext.com/articles/) began in 2007.\nThe first phase of the extension is to [Front Populaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/front-populaire-paris-m-tro), which was opened to the public on 18 December 2012.\nA further extension, via [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) to [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro), opened on 31 May 2022.\n# [The route of line 12 as it was displayed in 1931 for the Paris Colonial Exposition | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Paris///metro///line///12///plan///in///a///Sprague-Thomson.jpg]\n# [Front Populaire in the southern fringe of Aubervilliers is the first modernized station of Line 12 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Metro///Front///Populaire///train///on///openingsday.JPG]\n\n## Time-line\n\n# Route\nLine 12 is 18.37 km long and completely underground.\nIt is, by design, a particularly twisting route with multiple corners and steep climbs.\nBeginning at Issy-les-Moulineaux, south-west of Paris, with a three way tunnel underneath l'avenue Victor-Cresson, the terminus is at [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro), and has only two tracks.\nIt runs north-east, entering Paris at [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro), a major station with three tracks, one of which gives access to the workshop at Vaugirard.\nThe line then runs underneath [Rue de Vaugirard](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-de-vaugirard).\nAfter [Falguière](https://bliptext.com/articles/falgui-re-paris-m-tro), the line veers back south-east in a 150 m radius bend underneath the [Boulevard du Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/boulevard-du-montparnasse).\nIt connects with [line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4), [line 6](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-6), and [line 13](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-13) at [Montparnasse – Bienvenüe](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse-bienven-e-paris-m-tro), and exit leads toward the [Tour Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/tour-montparnasse).\nBefore the station, a two-way tunnel branches right (i.e., south), the beginning of a planned branch line to la Porte de Vanves (which later became line C of the Nord-Sud Company).\nThis branch was in turn integrated into the [original line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14-1937-76) of the Métropolitain system, and became a part of line 13 when 13 and 14 were joined at the Seine.\nThe Vanves branch now serves as a depot and workshop.\nAfter the junction with Line 4 at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe, Line 12 goes north-west underneath the Boulevard du Raspail; at 1274 m long.\nAfter the [Rue du Bac](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-du-bac-paris-m-tro) station, it runs north underneath the Boulevard Saint-Germain until the river Seine, under which it (and the tunnel of [RER Line C](https://bliptext.com/articles/rer-line-c)) passes via a 4 per cent descent and 3.5 per cent climb, to reappear on the Right Bank.\nAfter [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), the tunnel burrows below that of Line 1, then follows a twisting route through [Rue Saint Florentin](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-saint-florentin), then Rue du Chevalier-de-Saint-George and finally Rue Duphot before reaching [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), named after the Église de la [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), where the bend necessitates curved platforms.\nThe route also goes underneath the tunnel of the [new Line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14), and twists north underneath Rue Tronchet.\nAfter intersecting with Line 13, it reaches [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro) by a curve with a radius of just 60 m, turning east under Rue [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro).\nBetween the [Trinité](https://bliptext.com/articles/trinit-d-estienne-d-orves-paris-m-tro) station and the [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro) station the tunnel has three lines, including a central one which connects the two at the exit of [Trinité](https://bliptext.com/articles/trinit-d-estienne-d-orves-paris-m-tro).\nThis extra track was used for a long time to move the trains of Line 13 from the Vaugirard workshop back to their line (before the merger with the old line 14 the extension towards [Châtillon – Montrouge](https://bliptext.com/articles/ch-tillon-montrouge-paris-m-tro) and the creation of a new workshop).\nIn preparation for the ascent of the [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre) hill, the line veers sharply north in two curves of 150 m radius, putting the tunnel under Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.\nThere it climbs on a 4 per cent slope until the next station, Saint-Georges, which is divided by a pedestrian access way.\nLine 12 climbs on towards Pigalle station, where the [Moulin Rouge](https://bliptext.com/articles/moulin-rouge) is situated, and it intersects with and runs under [Line 2](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-2) and passes under a sewer.\nBetween [Abbesses](https://bliptext.com/articles/abbesses-paris-m-tro) and [Lamarck-Caulaincourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/lamarck-caulaincourt-paris-m-tro) stations, the tunnel crosses Montmartre at a maximum depth of 63 m, close to the [Basilica of the Sacré Cœur](https://bliptext.com/articles/basilica-of-the-sacr-c-ur), making Line 12 the network's deepest.\nAt Lamarck-Caulaincourt station, the line reaches its highest point, after which it makes a 4 per cent descent towards Jules-Joffrin station, situated under Rue Ordener, then to Marcadet-Poissoniers station, where the line again crosses [Line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4).\nThe tunnel runs underneath the railways departing from [Gare du Nord](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-du-nord), then slants northwards in a 50 m radius curve into [Marx Dormoy](https://bliptext.com/articles/marx-dormoy-paris-m-tro) station, in the [Goutte d'Or](https://bliptext.com/articles/goutte-d-or) neighbourhood.\nThe line continues down a slope of 2.6 per cent, with new bends, before arriving at Porte de la Chapelle station, on the northern edge of Paris.\nThis station was previously the northern terminus and has three lines with platforms, leading into a four-tunnel depot.\nBeyond the depot, a new tunnel was constructed for the first phase of the extension towards Aubervillers, passing underneath the ring road, and exiting the northern fringe of Paris for the first time.\nAfter an eastward curvature, the line arrives at Aubervillers - Front Populaire, the first modern station of Line 12.\nThe new station is situated at the edge of Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers, and is a traditional 2-track layout with platforms on either side of the track.\nAfter this, the line continues via [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) to [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro)(From [fr:Ligne 12 du métro de Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/fr-ligne-12-du-m-tro-de-paris)).\n# [Route of Line 12 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Carte///M%C3%A9tro///Paris///Ligne///12///%282022%29.svg]\n\n# Stations\nLine 12 consists of 31 stations, including 12 with connections to 9 other [metro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) lines and one [RER](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-seau-express-r-gional) line, two [Transilien](https://bliptext.com/articles/transilien) networks and two national railway stations.\n# [Typical mosaïc of the Nord-Sud Company in the Solférino station. The maroon border trims indicates that there is no transfer in the station. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Solferino///05.jpg]\n# [Entrance of Lamarck Caulaincourt station, between two stairways leading to Montmartre | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Lamarck///Caulaincourt///entree.jpg]\n# [Entrance of Saint-Georges station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Saint-Georges%2C///mai///2016///%289588%29.jpg]\n\n## Design features\nBecause of the competition with the CMP, the Nord-Sud company paid a special attention to design elements.\nOne of the notable elements is the [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro) station in which architect [Lucien Bechmann](https://bliptext.com/articles/lucien-bechmann) designed a [rotunda](https://bliptext.com/articles/rotunda-architecture) for the tickets and transfer room.\nThe station entrances of the Nord-Sud company, in ceramic and iron, are of a more sober styling than the [Art Nouveau](https://bliptext.com/articles/art-nouveau) designs of [Hector Guimard](https://bliptext.com/articles/hector-guimard) for the CMP's entrances.\nThe word \"Nord-Sud\" appeared in white on red for the maximum visibility at a distance.\nIn the 1970s, the Hector Guimard entrance from Hotel de Ville station was moved to Abbesses station.\nIn the stations, the supporting walls are vertical and not vaulted, and the ceramic tiles carry the customary \"NS\" logo of the company.\nThe tile trims are brown in stations without a transfer, and green in those with.\nMadeleine station has blue tile trim because of its connection with the CMP.\nIn addition, on the headwalls of the tunnels a signage indicate the direction of the trains accompanied by an arrow indicating the platform on the right.\nAll stations on the line inside Paris had this signage, though some have disappeared in renovations over the years.\nAt each station between Solférino and Notre-Dame des Champs (except Rue du Bac) are inscribed \"DIR^ON MONTPARNASSE\" or \"DIR^ON MONTMARTRE\".\nIn the north, at Marcadet – Poissonniers, Lamarck – Caulaincourt and Abbesses, the signs on the headwalls are \"DIR^ON PTE de VERSAILLES\"/\"DIR^ON PTE de LA CHAPELLE\".\nIn the south, at Falguière, the signs are \"DIR^ON PTE de VERSAILLES\"/\"DIR^ON MONTMARTRE\".\nTwo stations, due to their depth underground, have lifts: Abbesses and Lamarck – Caulaincourt.\nFive stations have unique décor, each based around a single theme: Abbesses, Concorde, Assemblée nationale, Montparnasse – Bienvenüe, and Pasteur.\nAbbesses station can be accessed via two shafts, one for the lifts, the other the stairs which are decorated with, on the descent, famous sights in Montmartre such as the Moulin Rouge, Sacré Coeur or place des Abbesses, and depictions of nature and daily life while ascending.\nThis installation was painted in 2007 to replace a mosaic patchwork previously done by artists from the area, which had been vandalised over the years.\nConcorde station was renovated in the early 1990s, it is decorated with small ceramic tiles, each depicting a different letter.\nTogether forming extracts from the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, the design was conceived by Françoise Schein.\nSince 1990, Assemblée nationale station no longer carries election material, but the posters show heads in silhouette, representing the deputies of l'Assemblée nationale.\nIt was designed by Jean-Charles Blais and is regularly refreshed according to the parliamentary calendar.\nMontparnasse – Bienvenüe station is named after its location and the \"father\" of the Metropolitan system in Paris, [Fulgence Bienvenüe](https://bliptext.com/articles/fulgence-bienven-e).\nThus it was a natural choice for an exhibition on the technology and literature of the metro, in celebration of its centenary in 2000.\nExtracts from works about the Metro adorn the walls of its corridors.\nPasteur station has an exhibition dedicated to medicine, installed during the centenary of the Metro and the renovation of the station on Line 6.\nThe panels depict the evolution of biology and medicine since [Louis Pasteur](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-pasteur), in the context of the time, and with various anecdotes.\n# [The headwall indicates the direction towards the terminus in all the stations of the Nord-Sud line, seen here at Sèvres – Babylone station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Sevres///-///Babylone///03.jpg]\n# [Graffiti at Abbesses station. The walls have since been re-painted | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Abbesses///stairs.jpg]\n# [Representation at Concorde station of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Concorde///04.jpg]\n\n## Renamed stations\nThe names of six stations have been changed since the line's opening:\n\n# Operation\n\n## Service\nIn 2011, the end to end journey time was 35 minutes southwards and 36 minutes northwards.\nAs with all Metro lines, the first trains leave at 05:30, from both termini as well as from Porte de Versailles station.\nOn most days, the last northbound train leaves Mairie d’Issy station at 00:39.\nThe last southbound trains leave Porte de la Chapelle station at 00:39 and 00:42, the second terminating at Porte de Versailles station.\nOn Fridays and Saturdays, the final departures are at 01:39.\nThe train frequency is every two to four minutes during the day, and five to seven minutes in the late evening.\nThe frequency on Sundays is four to six minutes.\nAfter 00:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings and bank holidays, the interval between trains is 10 minutes.\nThe RATP employs two categories of staff: ticketing agents and drivers.\nThe former manage the stations, sell tickets and look after passengers.\nDrivers are responsible for the operation of the trains.\n\n## Rolling stock\nAt its inception Line 12 operated four-motor [Sprague-Thomson](https://bliptext.com/articles/sprague-thomson) trains, equipped with 600 volt [pantographs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pantograph-rail) and scrubbers, the overhead system which supplies the trains with electricity.\nAfter the integration of the line into the CMP network, the [overhead lines](https://bliptext.com/articles/overhead-lines) and pantographs were removed.\nThe trains remained unique, using a grey and blue colour scheme for the 2nd class cars and red and yellow for 1st class until 1972.\nWhen Line 7 was modernised with new [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) stock between 1971 and 1973, its old Sprague-Thomson trains were transferred to Line 12 to replenish the worn out equipment from the Nord-Sud company.\nThe last train was replaced in May 1972.\nLine 12 continued to use the Sprague-Thomson equipment for another six years, until 1978, when it was provided with new MF 67 stock.\nIntermittently, the [MF 2000](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-2000) stock trains are tested along the Line 12 corridor.\n\n## Workshops\nThe rolling stock of Line 12 is maintained at the Vaugirard workshop, situated underground in the [15th arrondissement of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/15th-arrondissement-of-paris) between the rues Croix-Nivert, Desnouettes and Lecourbe, and Lycée Louis-Armand.\nThey connect with the main line on the tunnels toward the Mairie d'Issy station, north until the Porte de Versailles station.\nIt is also connected to the [Petite Ceinture](https://bliptext.com/articles/chemin-de-fer-de-petite-ceinture), a minor disused railway, by tracks which cross Rue Desnouettes.\nAs with all rolling stock on the system, heavy maintenance, such as the replacement of worn parts (batteries, paint, springs, etc.), happens at the Choisy workshops.\nOpened in 1931, the Choisy workshops are underground in the [13th arrondissement](https://bliptext.com/articles/13th-arrondissement-of-paris), close to the [Boulevard Périphérique](https://bliptext.com/articles/boulevard-p-riph-rique), and accessible via a fork in line 7.\nThere are two parts, one for maintenance of carriages of [Line 7](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-7), the other for repairs on trains from all lines on the network.\nThe workshops cover an area of approximately 3.435 ha.\nIn 2007, it was staffed by 330 workmen.\n# [The tunnel on the left leads to the Vaugirard workshop | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Porte///de///Versailles///L12///3///cropped.jpg]\n\n## Traffic\n[Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-1)2's traffic load is about average for the Métro; the total number of travellers is less than half that of [Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-1) and approximately two-thirds of lines [6](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-6) and 13.\nFrom 1992 to 2004, traffic grew by 0.5%, the 11th (of 13) strongest in terms of traffic growth (excluding [Line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14), completed in 1998).\n\nThe busiest stations are Saint-Lazare (34.53 million) and Montparnasse – Bienvenüe (29.46 million), both of which serve multiple lines.\nIn 1998, average weekday traffic reached, 245,364 commuters, 162,937 on Saturday and 93,866 on Sunday.\n\n## Safety record\nThere have been two accidents on the line: On 23 April 1930, a collision was caused by human error close to the Porte de Versailles station.\nA train moving north was stopped before a red signal between Porte de Versailles and [Convention](https://bliptext.com/articles/convention-paris-m-tro) stations.\nA second hit it hard from behind, the driver having passed two stop signals at full speed.\nTwo people were killed, and there were numerous injuries.\nA derailment on 30 August 2000.\nThe train's automatic control function was broken, and the driver was unused to driving manually and arrived too fast into the steep decline before [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro) station.\nThe derailment turned the car upside-down, and 24 people were injured.\nThe investigation concluded that a specific emergency signal be installed on the approach to the station, and that drivers preserve their skills by not habitually driving with the auto-pilot function.\n\n# Future\n\n## Northern extension\nAn extension north to the provisionally named Proudhon-Gardinoux station on the boundary between Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers opened in 2012.\nThe station will serve La Plaine Saint-Denis, a diverse district that includes many television studios.\nInitially called \"Proudhon – Gardinoux\" in the planning stages of the project (after the intersection of rue Proudhon and rue des Gardinoux), the name of the new station will be Front Populaire after the adjacent well-known square.\nConstruction began in the second half of 2007, and the tunnel boring machine started to operate in 2009.\nThe tunnel will be dug as far as Aubervilliers, but the entrances to the Pont de Stains and Mairie d'Aubervilliers stations will not be built until later.\nWorks on the first stage cost 198.5 million euros (48% from regional funding, 27.5% from the state, 8.5% from the [Department's](https://bliptext.com/articles/department-of-france) [General Council](https://bliptext.com/articles/general-councils-france), 16% from the RATP – on a loan approved by the region).\nIn a second phase, two further stations, at [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) and [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro), opened on 31 May 2022.\nThe final plan sees the extension running all the way to [RER B](https://bliptext.com/articles/rer-b) at [La Courneuve](https://bliptext.com/articles/la-courneuve), where the SDRIF plans an ultimate terminus at the tramway station of [Tramway Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-tramway-line-1).\n\n## Southern extension\nA southern extension into the municipality of [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux) is envisaged.\nDiscussed at length since the last extension of the line to Mairie d'Issy in 1934, it would run at least up to Gare d'Issy, or possibly all the way to Les Moulineaux thus permitting transfers with [Tramway T2](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-tramway-line-2) and creating the Issy-Ville station.\nThe project was included in phases 2 or 3 of the [Île-de-France](https://bliptext.com/articles/le-de-france-region) regional master plan (SDRIF) adopted on 25 September 2008, with an expected start in 2014 or 2020.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T06:56:09.876Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T06:56:09.876Z","search_vector":"'12':4 'line':3 'métro':2 'pari':1","search_content":" \n \n**Box Width:** 350px \n**Image Caption:** The line's platforms at [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-station), covered by the text of the [Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen](https://bliptext.com/articles/declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-and-of-the-citizen) \n**Line Color:** # \n**Text Color:** white \n**Line Name:** Line 12 \n**Network:** [Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) \n**Locale:** [Saint-Denis](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-denis-seine-saint-denis), [Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/aubervilliers), [Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris), Issy-les-Moulineaux \n**Year Opened:** 5 \n**Terminus:** [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-station) [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-station) \n**Operator Org:** [RATP](https://bliptext.com/articles/ratp-group) \n**Conducting System:** Conductor (PA) \n**Rolling Stock:** [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) (51 trains as of 30 July 2023 \n**Number Stations:** 31 \n**Length:** 17.2 \n**Electrification:** 750 [V](https://bliptext.com/articles/volt) [DC](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-current) [third rail](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-rail) \n**Dist Between Stations:** 573 \n**Passengers Per Year:** 84.3 million \n**Traffic Rank:** 11th/16 (2017) \n \n\n# \n**[Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) Line 12** (opened as **Line A**; [French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language): Ligne 12 du métro de Paris) is one of the sixteen lines of the [Paris Métro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro).\nIt links [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux), a suburban town southwest of Paris, to [Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/aubervilliers), in the north.\nWith around 54 million passengers per year, Line 12 was the twelfth busiest line of the network in 2021.\nIt has several major stops, such as [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro) and two national railway stations, [Gare Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-montparnasse) and [Gare Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-saint-lazare).\nThe service runs every day of the week, and the line uses [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) series trains, the network's standard since the early 1970s.\nLine 12 was founded as Line A by the [Nord-Sud Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/nord-sud-company), who also built [Line 13](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-13).\nIt was built between 1905 and 1910, to connect the districts of [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse), in the south, and [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre), in the north.\nThe first trip, from [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles) to [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro), was on 5 November 1910.\nThe line was the second to be built on the north–south axis of the city, in competition with [Line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4) of the [Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/compagnie-du-chemin-de-fer-m-tropolitain-de-paris) (CMP; Paris Metropolitan Railway Company).\nIt was extended southward bit by bit until 1934 when it reached [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro) in the south.\nTunnelling to the northern terminus at the [Porte de la Chapelle](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-la-chapelle-paris-m-tro) on the [perimeter](https://bliptext.com/articles/thiers-wall) of Paris had been completed in 1916.\nIn 1930, the CMP bought the Nord-Sud company and Line A was integrated into the new, unified network as Line 12.\nIn 1949, the CMP was itself merged into the [RATP](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-gie-autonome-des-transports-parisiens), Paris's public transport company.\nThey operate the line today and have plans to extend it south as far as the town of [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux) and north to La Plaine in [Saint-Denis](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-denis-seine-saint-denis).\nThe line was built using [cut-and-cover](https://bliptext.com/articles/cut-and-cover) excavation techniques.\nSince this method cannot be used under buildings, the route follows the streets above.\nIt remains unchanged today and many original design features, such as the Nord-Sud company's refined ceramic decor, remain in the stations.\nSome stations are decorated thematically: [Assemblée Nationale](https://bliptext.com/articles/assembl-e-nationale-paris-m-tro) has murals explaining the intricacies of the [lower house](https://bliptext.com/articles/lower-house) of the [French Parliament](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-parliament), while the tiling at [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro) represents an extract from the [Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen](https://bliptext.com/articles/declaration-of-the-rights-of-man-and-of-the-citizen) (1789).\n\n# History\n# [Tribute to Jean-Baptiste Berlier in the Saint-Lazare station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Saint-Lazare///05.jpg]\n\n## Planning (1901–1905)\nEngineer [Jean-Baptiste Berlier](https://bliptext.com/articles/jean-baptiste-berlier) proposed to the City of Paris to finance and build a new line linking the areas of [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre) and [Gare Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-saint-lazare) in the north with [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse) and Vaugirard in the south.\nThe line would establish a second north–south transport axis of the city, west of the existing [line four](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-metro-line-4).\nBerlier's design of two deep, parallel, iron-lined tunnels was modelled on the [London Underground](https://bliptext.com/articles/london-underground) system.\nThis method allowed the straightest line possible to be built, without passing underneath buildings and free from interference with underground sewers.\nThe City Council liked the plan and on 28 December 1901 granted the tender for a Montparnasse-Montmartre line to Messrs Janicot and Berlier.\nIn June 1902, a new company, new competitor of the \"Parisian Metropolitan Rail Company\" (CMP), was established : the [Nord-Sud Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/nord-sud-company) (in French ).\nThe grant to build what would become Line A was transferred to the Nord-Sud Company; which was approved on 26 March 1907.\nWhile the infrastructure of the CMP was financed by the city corporation, Nord-Sud project was the sole responsibility of the Nord-Sud Company.\nThe link between two important but distant urban centres guaranteed heavy traffic for the line and it would also directly compete with the CMP and tramway companies, threatening their monopoly across the city.\nThe City was wary of inciting new demands to license other lines, and of eventually provoking [industrial disorder](https://bliptext.com/articles/strike-action), something already experienced on the tramway network.\nFrench law required a [Déclaration d'utilité publique](https://bliptext.com/articles/d-claration-d-utilit-publique) (\"Declaration of Public Utility\"), a statement of the project's public benefit before municipal construction, the concerns meant that it was not promulgated for the 6.216 km line until 3 April 1905.\nThe law announced the creation \"of [] public utility, of local interest, this establishment, in Paris, of a railroad, electrically powered, dedicated to the transport of passengers and their hand-luggage, from Montmartre to Montparnasse\".\nThe law became active on 19 July 1905, the southern terminus was at Porte de Versailles, 3.154 km long, with a northern branch from Gare Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen.\nOn 10 April 1908, the northern extension from Place des Abbesses to Place Jules Joffrin, 1.32 km long, was in turn authorised, followed by the final section to Porte de la Chapelle (2.067 km) on 24 January 1912.\n\n## Construction and opening (1907–1910)\nThe boggy undersoil of Paris made it impossible for the engineers to follow their initial concept of deeply excavated, metal-lined tunnels: digging deeper to more stable ground would raise costs.\nThe line was finally established immediately underneath the streets using the [cut and cover](https://bliptext.com/articles/cut-and-cover) method of the CMP's lines, then the standard in use on the Metropolitan system.\nAs a consequence, the layout contains several difficult curves especially in the northern part where narrow streets have a winding route.\nThe line had 23 stations, all with vaulted roof construction.\nAn interchange with lines A and B was established at Saint-Lazare, but there was no connection with the CMP's lines.\nWork on the sub-fluvial tunnel underneath the [Seine](https://bliptext.com/articles/seine), between the Chambre des Députés station (now known as [Assemblée nationale](https://bliptext.com/articles/assembl-e-nationale-paris-m-tro)) and [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), took place between July 1907 and July 1909.\nThis 657 m long section runs through a bed of [limestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/limestone) after a break in the sand on the [Rive Gauche](https://bliptext.com/articles/rive-gauche).\nThe under-river passage was bored by two early [tunnel boring machines](https://bliptext.com/articles/tunnel-boring-machine), each with an external diameter of 5.24 m. The head of the machine cut into the rock, while in two intermediate chambers 24 hydraulic jacks exerted a pressure of 2.4 t on the rock walls so the machine could advance.\nAt the back, a mobile arm turned on the axis of the [tunnelling shield](https://bliptext.com/articles/tunnelling-shield) to install panels on walls of the tunnel.\nThe two tubes, with an internal diameter of 5 m, were made from 60 cm thick rings of [cast iron](https://bliptext.com/articles/cast-iron).\nEach ring was constructed from ten 1.54 m panels, with one 0.77 m counter-key panel and a 0.29 m key panel to lock the segments in place.\nThe casing extended 548 m downstream and 533 m upstream.\nThe two tubes are not parallel: the distance between them varies from 5.80 to 18.60 m. Work was delayed by the [1910 Great Flood of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/1910-great-flood-of-paris).\nDuring the works, the future Chambre des Députés station housed an air and water compressor.\nThe compressed air prevented the collapse of the digging shield from the weight of the waters above.\nThe tubes, initially unlined apart from the cast iron rings, were covered with an internal protective layer of masonry in 1920.\nThe section from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was inaugurated on 4 November 1910 and opened to the public on the next day.\nPorte de Versailles was set up as a terminus station with a connection to a workshop.\nThe latter was joined by to the [Petite Ceinture](https://bliptext.com/articles/chemin-de-fer-de-petite-ceinture) rail line, which allowed for the transfer of trains between lines.\nAt the other end, the provisional terminus at [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-metro) was set up with three tracks including a central depot.\nOn the opening day, public representatives rode from Notre-Dame-de-Lorette to Porte de Versailles, and returned to Gare Saint-Lazare for a buffet held in the rotunda.\nThe press reports were laudatory, commenting on the smoothness of journey, and their brightness of the stations.\nFrom the beginning, the traffic on the line was significant and the quantity of rolling stock had quickly to be increased.\nFrom 5 November 1910 until 30 June 1911, the line carried 29,263,610 passengers.\n# [Indication of the terminus Porte de Versailles on a Nord-Sud Sprague-Thomson train | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Destination///Porte///de///Versailles.jpg]\n\n## Developments to the present\nOn 8 April 1911, the line was extended north to [Pigalle](https://bliptext.com/articles/pigalle-paris-m-tro).\nA subsequent three station extension to [Jules Joffrin](https://bliptext.com/articles/jules-joffrin-paris-m-tro) proved particularly difficult.\nThe route passed underneath the hill of Montmartre, which had long been quarried and mined for [gypsum](https://bliptext.com/articles/gypsum) to make [plaster of paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/plaster).\nDuring the construction of the tunnel, numerous unknown quarries were discovered forcing a change in the line's route to avoid them.\nThe two intermediate stations, [Abbesses](https://bliptext.com/articles/abbesses-paris-m-tro) and [Lamarck – Caulaincourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/lamarck-caulaincourt-paris-m-tro), are particularly deep: here the tunnels are situated 36 m and 25 m below ground level, respectively.\nThe engineers constructed arches underground to support the weight of the gypsum above.\nThe extension was put into service on 30 October 1912.\nWork on the final extension northwards began in September 1912, but the tunnel was not finished at the beginning of the First World War.\nThough lacking personnel, the construction work continued at a slower pace.\nOn 23 August 1916, in the middle of the war, the line reached [Porte de la Chapelle](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-la-chapelle-paris-m-tro).\nThis extension comprised three new stations, of which the final included three tracks and two central platforms, the central track being used by trains leaving or arriving.\nLine A intersected with Line 4 at [Marcadet – Poissonniers](https://bliptext.com/articles/marcadet-poissonniers-paris-m-tro), but no transfer had yet been set up.\nOn 1 January 1930, the CMP absorbed the Nord-Sud company, and line A became line 12 of the Métropolitain network on 27 March 1931.\nThe line that bore the number 12 in the 1922 plan for a complementary network, from [Porte d'Orleans](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-d-orleans) to [Porte d'Italie](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-d-italie-paris-m-tro), was abandoned.\nThinking that the number of trains on the line was insufficient, the CMP transferred four trains from their holding to augment the service.\nThe Nord-Sud company lines were powered through overhead cables, whereas the [third rail](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-rail) system was in use on the CMP's network.\nWith the ownership transition, the CMP standard was adopted on the lines 12 and 13.\nAs a result, the overhead cables of the Nord-Sud were decommissioned in 1932, one year after those of line 13.\n[Pantographs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pantograph-rail) continued to be used in the Vaugirard workshop.\nTo improve the connection of the lines and facilitate the transfer of the carriages, a new link was built in 1935, between the [Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse-bienven-e-paris-m-tro) station and the [Vavin](https://bliptext.com/articles/vavin-paris-m-tro) station of line 4.\nOn 12 July 1928, the [Seine](https://bliptext.com/articles/seine-department) [general council](https://bliptext.com/articles/general-councils-france) decided to extend the Métropolitain by 1.5 km, taking it beyond the limit of Paris so that line A would serve the town of Issy-les-Moulineaux with two new stations.\nWork began in 1931 and led to the relocation of [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro) station further from the city, the new station being set up with two platforms staggered by 40 m. The platforms of the old station were removed and sidings were installed to house trains not in use.\nThe extension comprised only two stations with 75 m long platforms, terminating at standard two track station, followed by a reversing area.\nOn 24 March 1934, the southern extension to [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro) was inaugurated, the same day as that of line 1 to [Château de Vincennes](https://bliptext.com/articles/ch-teau-de-vincennes-paris-m-tro).\nOn the night of 20 April 1944, during the [Liberation of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/liberation-of-paris), the freight station of Porte de la Chapelle and the RATP central workshop on rue Championnet were bombarded.\nThe former, which is also the line's terminus, was severely damaged though hasty repairs returned it to service a few days later.\nThe line was equipped with a centralised control room in 1971.\nIn 1977 the use of [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) rolling stock allowed the inauguration of [Automatic Train Control](https://bliptext.com/articles/automatic-train-control) on Line 12.\n[A project to extend the line northwards](https://bliptext.com/articles/) began in 2007.\nThe first phase of the extension is to [Front Populaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/front-populaire-paris-m-tro), which was opened to the public on 18 December 2012.\nA further extension, via [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) to [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro), opened on 31 May 2022.\n# [The route of line 12 as it was displayed in 1931 for the Paris Colonial Exposition | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Paris///metro///line///12///plan///in///a///Sprague-Thomson.jpg]\n# [Front Populaire in the southern fringe of Aubervilliers is the first modernized station of Line 12 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Metro///Front///Populaire///train///on///openingsday.JPG]\n\n## Time-line\n\n# Route\nLine 12 is 18.37 km long and completely underground.\nIt is, by design, a particularly twisting route with multiple corners and steep climbs.\nBeginning at Issy-les-Moulineaux, south-west of Paris, with a three way tunnel underneath l'avenue Victor-Cresson, the terminus is at [Mairie d'Issy](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-issy-paris-m-tro), and has only two tracks.\nIt runs north-east, entering Paris at [Porte de Versailles](https://bliptext.com/articles/porte-de-versailles-paris-m-tro), a major station with three tracks, one of which gives access to the workshop at Vaugirard.\nThe line then runs underneath [Rue de Vaugirard](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-de-vaugirard).\nAfter [Falguière](https://bliptext.com/articles/falgui-re-paris-m-tro), the line veers back south-east in a 150 m radius bend underneath the [Boulevard du Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/boulevard-du-montparnasse).\nIt connects with [line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4), [line 6](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-6), and [line 13](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-13) at [Montparnasse – Bienvenüe](https://bliptext.com/articles/montparnasse-bienven-e-paris-m-tro), and exit leads toward the [Tour Montparnasse](https://bliptext.com/articles/tour-montparnasse).\nBefore the station, a two-way tunnel branches right (i.e., south), the beginning of a planned branch line to la Porte de Vanves (which later became line C of the Nord-Sud Company).\nThis branch was in turn integrated into the [original line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14-1937-76) of the Métropolitain system, and became a part of line 13 when 13 and 14 were joined at the Seine.\nThe Vanves branch now serves as a depot and workshop.\nAfter the junction with Line 4 at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe, Line 12 goes north-west underneath the Boulevard du Raspail; at 1274 m long.\nAfter the [Rue du Bac](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-du-bac-paris-m-tro) station, it runs north underneath the Boulevard Saint-Germain until the river Seine, under which it (and the tunnel of [RER Line C](https://bliptext.com/articles/rer-line-c)) passes via a 4 per cent descent and 3.5 per cent climb, to reappear on the Right Bank.\nAfter [Concorde](https://bliptext.com/articles/concorde-paris-m-tro), the tunnel burrows below that of Line 1, then follows a twisting route through [Rue Saint Florentin](https://bliptext.com/articles/rue-saint-florentin), then Rue du Chevalier-de-Saint-George and finally Rue Duphot before reaching [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), named after the Église de la [Madeleine](https://bliptext.com/articles/madeleine-paris-m-tro), where the bend necessitates curved platforms.\nThe route also goes underneath the tunnel of the [new Line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14), and twists north underneath Rue Tronchet.\nAfter intersecting with Line 13, it reaches [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro) by a curve with a radius of just 60 m, turning east under Rue [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro).\nBetween the [Trinité](https://bliptext.com/articles/trinit-d-estienne-d-orves-paris-m-tro) station and the [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro) station the tunnel has three lines, including a central one which connects the two at the exit of [Trinité](https://bliptext.com/articles/trinit-d-estienne-d-orves-paris-m-tro).\nThis extra track was used for a long time to move the trains of Line 13 from the Vaugirard workshop back to their line (before the merger with the old line 14 the extension towards [Châtillon – Montrouge](https://bliptext.com/articles/ch-tillon-montrouge-paris-m-tro) and the creation of a new workshop).\nIn preparation for the ascent of the [Montmartre](https://bliptext.com/articles/montmartre) hill, the line veers sharply north in two curves of 150 m radius, putting the tunnel under Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.\nThere it climbs on a 4 per cent slope until the next station, Saint-Georges, which is divided by a pedestrian access way.\nLine 12 climbs on towards Pigalle station, where the [Moulin Rouge](https://bliptext.com/articles/moulin-rouge) is situated, and it intersects with and runs under [Line 2](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-2) and passes under a sewer.\nBetween [Abbesses](https://bliptext.com/articles/abbesses-paris-m-tro) and [Lamarck-Caulaincourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/lamarck-caulaincourt-paris-m-tro) stations, the tunnel crosses Montmartre at a maximum depth of 63 m, close to the [Basilica of the Sacré Cœur](https://bliptext.com/articles/basilica-of-the-sacr-c-ur), making Line 12 the network's deepest.\nAt Lamarck-Caulaincourt station, the line reaches its highest point, after which it makes a 4 per cent descent towards Jules-Joffrin station, situated under Rue Ordener, then to Marcadet-Poissoniers station, where the line again crosses [Line 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-4).\nThe tunnel runs underneath the railways departing from [Gare du Nord](https://bliptext.com/articles/gare-du-nord), then slants northwards in a 50 m radius curve into [Marx Dormoy](https://bliptext.com/articles/marx-dormoy-paris-m-tro) station, in the [Goutte d'Or](https://bliptext.com/articles/goutte-d-or) neighbourhood.\nThe line continues down a slope of 2.6 per cent, with new bends, before arriving at Porte de la Chapelle station, on the northern edge of Paris.\nThis station was previously the northern terminus and has three lines with platforms, leading into a four-tunnel depot.\nBeyond the depot, a new tunnel was constructed for the first phase of the extension towards Aubervillers, passing underneath the ring road, and exiting the northern fringe of Paris for the first time.\nAfter an eastward curvature, the line arrives at Aubervillers - Front Populaire, the first modern station of Line 12.\nThe new station is situated at the edge of Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers, and is a traditional 2-track layout with platforms on either side of the track.\nAfter this, the line continues via [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) to [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro)(From [fr:Ligne 12 du métro de Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/fr-ligne-12-du-m-tro-de-paris)).\n# [Route of Line 12 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Carte///M%C3%A9tro///Paris///Ligne///12///%282022%29.svg]\n\n# Stations\nLine 12 consists of 31 stations, including 12 with connections to 9 other [metro](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro) lines and one [RER](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-seau-express-r-gional) line, two [Transilien](https://bliptext.com/articles/transilien) networks and two national railway stations.\n# [Typical mosaïc of the Nord-Sud Company in the Solférino station. The maroon border trims indicates that there is no transfer in the station. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Solferino///05.jpg]\n# [Entrance of Lamarck Caulaincourt station, between two stairways leading to Montmartre | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Lamarck///Caulaincourt///entree.jpg]\n# [Entrance of Saint-Georges station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Saint-Georges%2C///mai///2016///%289588%29.jpg]\n\n## Design features\nBecause of the competition with the CMP, the Nord-Sud company paid a special attention to design elements.\nOne of the notable elements is the [Saint-Lazare](https://bliptext.com/articles/saint-lazare-paris-m-tro) station in which architect [Lucien Bechmann](https://bliptext.com/articles/lucien-bechmann) designed a [rotunda](https://bliptext.com/articles/rotunda-architecture) for the tickets and transfer room.\nThe station entrances of the Nord-Sud company, in ceramic and iron, are of a more sober styling than the [Art Nouveau](https://bliptext.com/articles/art-nouveau) designs of [Hector Guimard](https://bliptext.com/articles/hector-guimard) for the CMP's entrances.\nThe word \"Nord-Sud\" appeared in white on red for the maximum visibility at a distance.\nIn the 1970s, the Hector Guimard entrance from Hotel de Ville station was moved to Abbesses station.\nIn the stations, the supporting walls are vertical and not vaulted, and the ceramic tiles carry the customary \"NS\" logo of the company.\nThe tile trims are brown in stations without a transfer, and green in those with.\nMadeleine station has blue tile trim because of its connection with the CMP.\nIn addition, on the headwalls of the tunnels a signage indicate the direction of the trains accompanied by an arrow indicating the platform on the right.\nAll stations on the line inside Paris had this signage, though some have disappeared in renovations over the years.\nAt each station between Solférino and Notre-Dame des Champs (except Rue du Bac) are inscribed \"DIR ON MONTPARNASSE\" or \"DIR ON MONTMARTRE\".\nIn the north, at Marcadet – Poissonniers, Lamarck – Caulaincourt and Abbesses, the signs on the headwalls are \"DIR ON PTE de VERSAILLES\"/\"DIR ON PTE de LA CHAPELLE\".\nIn the south, at Falguière, the signs are \"DIR ON PTE de VERSAILLES\"/\"DIR ON MONTMARTRE\".\nTwo stations, due to their depth underground, have lifts: Abbesses and Lamarck – Caulaincourt.\nFive stations have unique décor, each based around a single theme: Abbesses, Concorde, Assemblée nationale, Montparnasse – Bienvenüe, and Pasteur.\nAbbesses station can be accessed via two shafts, one for the lifts, the other the stairs which are decorated with, on the descent, famous sights in Montmartre such as the Moulin Rouge, Sacré Coeur or place des Abbesses, and depictions of nature and daily life while ascending.\nThis installation was painted in 2007 to replace a mosaic patchwork previously done by artists from the area, which had been vandalised over the years.\nConcorde station was renovated in the early 1990s, it is decorated with small ceramic tiles, each depicting a different letter.\nTogether forming extracts from the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, the design was conceived by Françoise Schein.\nSince 1990, Assemblée nationale station no longer carries election material, but the posters show heads in silhouette, representing the deputies of l'Assemblée nationale.\nIt was designed by Jean-Charles Blais and is regularly refreshed according to the parliamentary calendar.\nMontparnasse – Bienvenüe station is named after its location and the \"father\" of the Metropolitan system in Paris, [Fulgence Bienvenüe](https://bliptext.com/articles/fulgence-bienven-e).\nThus it was a natural choice for an exhibition on the technology and literature of the metro, in celebration of its centenary in 2000.\nExtracts from works about the Metro adorn the walls of its corridors.\nPasteur station has an exhibition dedicated to medicine, installed during the centenary of the Metro and the renovation of the station on Line 6.\nThe panels depict the evolution of biology and medicine since [Louis Pasteur](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-pasteur), in the context of the time, and with various anecdotes.\n# [The headwall indicates the direction towards the terminus in all the stations of the Nord-Sud line, seen here at Sèvres – Babylone station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Sevres///-///Babylone///03.jpg]\n# [Graffiti at Abbesses station. The walls have since been re-painted | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Abbesses///stairs.jpg]\n# [Representation at Concorde station of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Metro///de///Paris///-///Ligne///12///-///Concorde///04.jpg]\n\n## Renamed stations\nThe names of six stations have been changed since the line's opening:\n\n# Operation\n\n## Service\nIn 2011, the end to end journey time was 35 minutes southwards and 36 minutes northwards.\nAs with all Metro lines, the first trains leave at 05:30, from both termini as well as from Porte de Versailles station.\nOn most days, the last northbound train leaves Mairie d’Issy station at 00:39.\nThe last southbound trains leave Porte de la Chapelle station at 00:39 and 00:42, the second terminating at Porte de Versailles station.\nOn Fridays and Saturdays, the final departures are at 01:39.\nThe train frequency is every two to four minutes during the day, and five to seven minutes in the late evening.\nThe frequency on Sundays is four to six minutes.\nAfter 00:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings and bank holidays, the interval between trains is 10 minutes.\nThe RATP employs two categories of staff: ticketing agents and drivers.\nThe former manage the stations, sell tickets and look after passengers.\nDrivers are responsible for the operation of the trains.\n\n## Rolling stock\nAt its inception Line 12 operated four-motor [Sprague-Thomson](https://bliptext.com/articles/sprague-thomson) trains, equipped with 600 volt [pantographs](https://bliptext.com/articles/pantograph-rail) and scrubbers, the overhead system which supplies the trains with electricity.\nAfter the integration of the line into the CMP network, the [overhead lines](https://bliptext.com/articles/overhead-lines) and pantographs were removed.\nThe trains remained unique, using a grey and blue colour scheme for the 2nd class cars and red and yellow for 1st class until 1972.\nWhen Line 7 was modernised with new [MF 67](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-67) stock between 1971 and 1973, its old Sprague-Thomson trains were transferred to Line 12 to replenish the worn out equipment from the Nord-Sud company.\nThe last train was replaced in May 1972.\nLine 12 continued to use the Sprague-Thomson equipment for another six years, until 1978, when it was provided with new MF 67 stock.\nIntermittently, the [MF 2000](https://bliptext.com/articles/mf-2000) stock trains are tested along the Line 12 corridor.\n\n## Workshops\nThe rolling stock of Line 12 is maintained at the Vaugirard workshop, situated underground in the [15th arrondissement of Paris](https://bliptext.com/articles/15th-arrondissement-of-paris) between the rues Croix-Nivert, Desnouettes and Lecourbe, and Lycée Louis-Armand.\nThey connect with the main line on the tunnels toward the Mairie d'Issy station, north until the Porte de Versailles station.\nIt is also connected to the [Petite Ceinture](https://bliptext.com/articles/chemin-de-fer-de-petite-ceinture), a minor disused railway, by tracks which cross Rue Desnouettes.\nAs with all rolling stock on the system, heavy maintenance, such as the replacement of worn parts (batteries, paint, springs, etc.), happens at the Choisy workshops.\nOpened in 1931, the Choisy workshops are underground in the [13th arrondissement](https://bliptext.com/articles/13th-arrondissement-of-paris), close to the [Boulevard Périphérique](https://bliptext.com/articles/boulevard-p-riph-rique), and accessible via a fork in line 7.\nThere are two parts, one for maintenance of carriages of [Line 7](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-7), the other for repairs on trains from all lines on the network.\nThe workshops cover an area of approximately 3.435 ha.\nIn 2007, it was staffed by 330 workmen.\n# [The tunnel on the left leads to the Vaugirard workshop | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Porte///de///Versailles///L12///3///cropped.jpg]\n\n## Traffic\n[Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-1)2's traffic load is about average for the Métro; the total number of travellers is less than half that of [Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-1) and approximately two-thirds of lines [6](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-6) and 13.\nFrom 1992 to 2004, traffic grew by 0.5%, the 11th (of 13) strongest in terms of traffic growth (excluding [Line 14](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-m-tro-line-14), completed in 1998).\n \nThe busiest stations are Saint-Lazare (34.53 million) and Montparnasse – Bienvenüe (29.46 million), both of which serve multiple lines.\nIn 1998, average weekday traffic reached, 245,364 commuters, 162,937 on Saturday and 93,866 on Sunday.\n\n## Safety record\nThere have been two accidents on the line: On 23 April 1930, a collision was caused by human error close to the Porte de Versailles station.\nA train moving north was stopped before a red signal between Porte de Versailles and [Convention](https://bliptext.com/articles/convention-paris-m-tro) stations.\nA second hit it hard from behind, the driver having passed two stop signals at full speed.\nTwo people were killed, and there were numerous injuries.\nA derailment on 30 August 2000.\nThe train's automatic control function was broken, and the driver was unused to driving manually and arrived too fast into the steep decline before [Notre-Dame-de-Lorette](https://bliptext.com/articles/notre-dame-de-lorette-paris-m-tro) station.\nThe derailment turned the car upside-down, and 24 people were injured.\nThe investigation concluded that a specific emergency signal be installed on the approach to the station, and that drivers preserve their skills by not habitually driving with the auto-pilot function.\n\n# Future\n\n## Northern extension\nAn extension north to the provisionally named Proudhon-Gardinoux station on the boundary between Saint-Denis and Aubervilliers opened in 2012.\nThe station will serve La Plaine Saint-Denis, a diverse district that includes many television studios.\nInitially called \"Proudhon – Gardinoux\" in the planning stages of the project (after the intersection of rue Proudhon and rue des Gardinoux), the name of the new station will be Front Populaire after the adjacent well-known square.\nConstruction began in the second half of 2007, and the tunnel boring machine started to operate in 2009.\nThe tunnel will be dug as far as Aubervilliers, but the entrances to the Pont de Stains and Mairie d'Aubervilliers stations will not be built until later.\nWorks on the first stage cost 198.5 million euros (48% from regional funding, 27.5% from the state, 8.5% from the [Department's](https://bliptext.com/articles/department-of-france) [General Council](https://bliptext.com/articles/general-councils-france), 16% from the RATP – on a loan approved by the region).\nIn a second phase, two further stations, at [Aimé Césaire](https://bliptext.com/articles/aim-c-saire-paris-m-tro) and [Mairie d'Aubervilliers](https://bliptext.com/articles/mairie-d-aubervilliers-paris-m-tro), opened on 31 May 2022.\nThe final plan sees the extension running all the way to [RER B](https://bliptext.com/articles/rer-b) at [La Courneuve](https://bliptext.com/articles/la-courneuve), where the SDRIF plans an ultimate terminus at the tramway station of [Tramway Line 1](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-tramway-line-1).\n\n## Southern extension\nA southern extension into the municipality of [Issy-les-Moulineaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/issy-les-moulineaux) is envisaged.\nDiscussed at length since the last extension of the line to Mairie d'Issy in 1934, it would run at least up to Gare d'Issy, or possibly all the way to Les Moulineaux thus permitting transfers with [Tramway T2](https://bliptext.com/articles/paris-tramway-line-2) and creating the Issy-Ville station.\nThe project was included in phases 2 or 3 of the [Île-de-France](https://bliptext.com/articles/le-de-france-region) regional master plan (SDRIF) adopted on 25 September 2008, with an expected start in 2014 or 2020.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}