A new metro line supposed to connect key sites for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will not be ready in time, the operator of the Grand Paris Express project said Tuesday, announcing a two-year delay.
The brand new metro line 16 is part of a huge multibillion-euro expansion of the Paris metro network, part of which had been due for completion before the Games.
Line 16 will run from Saint-Denis on the northern edge of Paris, site of the athlete's village and Stade de France stadium, to the suburb of Le Bourget, which will host the press centre.
Key project for the 2024 Olympics
The line, which will put some of the capital's poorest suburbs on a metro line for the first time, is also one of the key legacy projects of the 2024 Olympics.
French president Emmanuel Macron had promised that the first section would be ready in time for the Olympics, but the head of the Grand Paris Express -- the name of the supermetro project -- has now confirmed that construction was running behind schedule.
Two-year delay
Jean-François Monteils said construction delays, partly caused by the Covid-19 pandemic - but not exclusively - meant the first section of line 16 would be ready only for the second half of 2026.
Among the difficulties encountered, Monteils cited the removal of asbestos from the Aulnay-sous-Bois depot site, the difficulty of getting technicians from Germany to maintain the tunnel boring machines during the lockdown. And the consequences of the accidental death of a worker at Christmas, which forced the shutting down of the work site for six months while an investigation was carried out.
Four automatic lines, covering a total of some 200 kilometres, are being added to France's 14-line metro network to better connect the suburbs with the city.
Monteils assured however that all the work would be completed.
"We have started everything and will finish everything," he said.
