FRANCE: RATP has awarded two contracts to undertake civil works on the southern extension of its driverless metro Line 14, which will run for 14 km between Olympiades and Orly Airport. The project is being funded by Société du Grand Paris as part of the Grand Paris Express programme.
Contract GC03 covers 4 km of bored tunnel and civil works for the stations at Chevilly Trois Communes, MIN Porte de Thiais and Pont de Rungis. It has been awarded for €365m to a joint venture led by Razel-Bec that also includes Eiffage Génie Civil, Sefi-Intrafor, Eiffage Fondations and ICOP.
Under contract GC04 worth €203m, the 4∙1 km from Pont de Rungis to the site of the new station at Orly is to be built by a joint venture of Salini Impregilo and NGE. Work is expected to take five years to complete. Due to open in 2024, the southern extension of Line 14 will cut the journey time from Gare de Lyon to Orly Airport to 23 min. By replacing the existing six-car trainsets with a new eight-car fleet, RATP expects to increase capacity on Line 14 from 30 000 to 40 000 passengers/h while reducing energy consumption by 20%.
