$25 Billion Paris Métro Extension—Grand Ambitions Included

Henry Grabar reports on "the most ambitious new subway project in the Western world": a new subway line under construction in Paris.

The extension of Line 14 is but the first leg of the Grand Paris Express, a $25 billion expansion of the century-old Paris Métro. By the time the project is completed in 2030, the system will have gained four lines, 68 stations, and more than 120 miles of track. Planners estimate that the build-out will boost the entire network’s ridership by almost 40 percent.

Given the superlative terms Garabar introduces the project with, it should be clear that the stakes of this project will be measured in much more than service miles and ridership numbers. Perhaps the most impressive takeaway from the article comes from a description of the ideology driving the project: "an old Parisian belief about the Métro conferring, beyond convenience, a kind of citizenship on its riders."