‘The 14 lines of the Paris Métro – Celebrating 125 years’, by Brian Hardy, 3rd February 2026
3rd February 2026 Meeting.
For our second Zoom meeting of the year (very fortuitous as it would have been a filthy night to turn out to Watford) we welcomed Brian Hardy, who is no stranger to us, having given many excellent talks to us before. This time he turned his attention on to the Paris Métro which was 125 years old last year. Brian gave us a very comprehensive review of those 125 years.
The system opened on 19th July 1900 with just 6 lines all ending in loops to avoid reversal. The system was first extended beyond the city boundary in 1934 and today there are 14 lines, a couple or so more if you count short spurs off some lines. We then had a review of all the types of trains and their liveries, starting with the original wooden stock and taking us through to modern automatic units, taking in the famous Sprague units which lasted for some 45 years, and of course the six lines that have units with rubber tyres.
Sprague-Thomson train on line 2 departing from Jaurès heading west to Porte Dauphine, comprising each of the three liveries. The normal livery was green for second class and red for first class. The ‘grey’ (second class) cars were specifically for line 1, but when that line was converted to rubber tyred operation in the 1960s, its stock was redistributed to other lines. Image Credit: Brian Hardy.
Brian then showed us a selection of the different styles of architecture of the entrances to stations at street level and then some of the themed station platforms, decorated to go along with the station names. Also covered were engineering trains converted from Sprague stock, special excursions, depot views, stock stabling tunnels, disused sections, accidents, snow scenes, the flood caused by a storm which seriously damaged 18 units and gave the Spragues a short stay of execution, platform gates, the old system maps where you could press a button to illuminate your best route and much more. Finally there was a diagram of possible future expansions and a review of what each line is like today. All in all a fabulous collection of images, very much appreciated by the forty-five viewers who joined the meeting.
Rob Freeman, Branch Committee Member