This is the interior of a Métro trainset on line 14, the newest line of the
Paris subway (it opened in 1998).
This line represents the state of the art in rail mass transit. The trainset is unitized, meaning
that you can walk from one end of the train to the other without leaving the train (older subway
trains do not allow communication between cars from within). It is air-conditioned in summer as well,
which is important, since it gets pretty warm during the summer months of the year, even underground and
even in Paris. As you can see, the cars are quite roomy, with space for both seated and standing passengers.
The most important feature of this trainset is that it has no driver: the train (and the line) is completely
automated, with no need for human drivers at all. In fact, the front and back of the train are equipped
with large windows so that passengers can sit at the ends of the train and watch the right-of-way ahead
or behind the train. Another advantage of unmanned trains is that they are not affected by most transit
strikes. This is the only Métro line that is entirely automated, and so it is often the only one
that remains in service during (frequent) transit strikes.
The train is just as clean and new as it appears to be here. The color scheme is pleasing and the
trains, like the stations, are roomy and well lit. In this photograph, you are looking from the end
of one car into another; the large black ring separating the camera from the other passengers is in
fact a connection between the two cars. If you look in the background, you can see that the train goes on
and on.
