Grand Paris Express Tunnel Dug to Orly [Video]

By 2030, the Greater Paris Express will reach the airport south of Paris, Orly, with a new metro line.

The tunnel boring machine responsible for digging the tunnel arrived at Orly Airport this Tuesday. It traveled a long distance of 6 km, connecting Palaiseau (Essonne) to the international airport.

It has been a year and a half since the tunnel started being dug, and it has finally reached its destination. The tunnel will be twice the length of the already excavated section, as another machine has dug the other part of the tunnel.

A line in two stages

The first section will connect Versailles-Chantier to Saclay and is expected to be completed in 2026. It should reach Orly Airport before 2030.

Orly is a far-from-everything airport, served only by a bus line called Orlybus and the T7 tramway.

An additional step in mobility

Paris Orly Airport will be the final destination of metro line 18 of the Greater Paris, but also line 14, which currently terminates at Olympiades. Line 18 is expected to be ready before 2030, unlike line 14, which is scheduled to be completed before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This development of mobility in Île-de-France contributes to an intermodal plan that links multiple transportation modes at a single location.

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