Going underground: 10 Facts about the Paris Metro System

The Paris Metro is the city’s lifeline and connects the farthest reaches of Paris to the bustling city centre. With a total of 14 lines that stretch 214kms in length, it’s the second busiest metro system in Europe, after Moscow. We thought it would be fun to take a look at some obscure facts about the Paris Metro system that we bet you didn’t know. If anything, it’s good for the trivia...

1. If you alight at the Arts et Metiers station, have a look at the platforms that were redesigned in 1994 by Belgian comic book artist François Schuiten. The ceiling and walls are decorated with riveted copper and fake portholes – to give the impression of a Jules Verne science fiction novel or even a submarine
2. It is said that every building in Paris is within 500m of a metro station in Paris
3. The metro now serves 6 million out of 10.5 million people in Paris and is nearly 115 years old – second oldest to London’s tube system
4. Abbesses is the deepest metro station in Paris, at 40m below ground – Louis Vuitton even named a bag after this station
5. The word ‘metro’, used in around 55 different countries, comes from the Paris Metropolitan
6. The metro travels around 600,000 miles a day – that’s the equivalent of 10 times around the earth
7. You’re allowed to take dogs on the metro – as long as they’re small, so leave your Alsatians at home and take the Chihuahua instead
8. Within the 214km of tracks there are 21,400 directional arrows and indications, 3million miles of lightning cables and 23 million tiles
9. The metro serves 3,9 million passengers a day and 1.5 billion people each year
10. As well as the 245 working stations in the Paris metro there are a handful of ghost stations such as Arsenal, Haxo, or Porte Molitor which haven’t been in use for decades – look out; sometimes these are open to the public at fixed dates in the year

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