The Métro opened on 19 July 1900, its
first line being from Porte de Vincennes to Porte Maillot (not surprising it is
now the line number 1). Fulgence Bienvenüe was the engineer in charge of
construction, the architect Hector Guimard being responsible for the Art
Nouveau entrances (see image). The system has 199 km (124 miles) of
track and 15 lines. There are 368 stations (not including RER stations), 87 of
these being interchanges between lines. Every building is within 500 metres
of a métro station. There are 3500 cars which transport roughly 6 million
people per day. There are 15000 employees of the métro (1989 statistics).
The Métro opened on 19 July 1900, its
first line being from Porte de Vincennes to Porte Maillot (not surprising it is
now the line number 1). Fulgence Bienvenüe was the engineer in charge of
construction, the architect Hector Guimard being responsible for the Art
Nouveau entrances (see image).