Paris: 14 Solutions to Improve the RER B

Ordered in March 2023, the audit of the RER B line was presented with an action plan to make it more effective in daily operations.

Written by Yves Ramette, an expert in “mass transit” and former CEO of RATP and SNCF Réseau Île-de-France, it is the culmination of rigorous collaborative work carried out with the line’s stakeholders (Île-de-France Mobilités, RATP, SNCF Transilien Travelers, and SNCF Réseau), whose full commitment is necessary for its success. It will significantly improve the robustness of the line and the travel conditions for over 1 million daily users.

Objectives: better understand collectively the sources of dysfunction and the punctuality decline since 2015, and identify quick actions to stop this performance drop and gradually and sustainably improve quality of service, with a goal of +1% punctuality per year on average and 95% by 2031.

5 Major Challenges, 14 Actions Implementable from 2023

This report continues the investment efforts of nearly 3.5 billion euros already launched over several years, including the order of 146 MI20 trains and the “NExTEO” signaling and circulation control system, whose funding protocol was signed on October 12th. The diagnosis is clear: the RER B frequently experiences numerous operational incidents, equipped with aging rolling stock and infrastructure that are no longer suitable for increasing ridership and passenger expectations.

Adding to this is a multiplicity of stakeholders, complicating interfaces and information sharing, as well as a volume of work impacting the line’s proper functioning.

1. Adapt the renovation of MI84 trains to increase the available fleet on the line
2. Improve the efficiency of the rolling stock maintenance site in Mitry
3. Define performance targets through contractual agreements between SNCF Réseau and IDFM
4. Adjust the organization to strengthen the shared responsibility of RATP and SNCF across the entire line
5. Implement a shared scheduling tool between SNCF and RATP, common to the Massy and Mitry sites, for technical interventions on rolling stock under maintenance control, and develop a location tool for trains north of the line
6. Guarantee the use of direct tracks upon the launch of CDG Express through prioritizing RER B during disruptions
7. Anticipate the shared management of works across the entire line between infrastructure managers SNCF Réseau and RATP
8. Improve coordination among stakeholders between work planning and activity maintenance at the Mitry workshop
9. Strengthen SNCF Réseau’s intervention capabilities for faster resolution of infrastructure incidents: ease of circulation for agents on the road, facilitating the simultaneous handling of multiple incidents.
10. Facilitate regulatory updates within SNCF to adapt to the particularities of RER B and support associated operational changes.
11. Implement tools to facilitate the operation of circulations at key points along the line
12. Regularly reevaluate the effectiveness of measures aimed at limiting external incidents (platform flow regulators, passenger malaise management, K9 teams)
13. Unify information systems and practices to record incidents and their impacts. Conduct periodic critical analyses of this data to report long-term performance trends.
14. Formally establish the implementation of a Central Command Center (CCU) for RER B and D.

Regarding this last action, Valérie Pécresse emphasized that this central unit is strongly supported by Île-de-France Mobilités and that she had approached the operators at the beginning of the year. She confirmed during the report presentation that the operators had found the technical solution for establishing this single command center for RER B and D.

She confirmed that the funding is included in the CPER and Île-de-France Mobilités budgets and that it will be operational by 2030. Her decisive actions will be crucial in preventing cascading incidents and reducing incident duration.

ALSO READ: At RATP, a large recruitment plan to restart the machine