Rail Mass Transit : a Specific Rail Operation

Long overshadowed by the success of the TGV on the one hand, and RATP on the other, which launched the first two regional express network (RER) lines in the Paris region, the specificity of rail operations in dense urban areas, particularly in the Paris suburbs, has gradually gained international recognition since 2015.

The sustained, steady growth of the RER RATP network and SNCF Transilien lines soon came up against recurring capacity and service quality issues. The launch of the "Grand Paris Express" line program triggered a new awareness of the specific features of operating these wide-gauge rail lines, their essential interactions with other transport networks, and a new approach to managing passenger flows, including in interchange hubs.

To embody this new approach to operations, in 2015 SNCF Transilien introduced the concept of "Mass Transit" to characterize the operation of its Paris suburban network. , with the emphasis on two characteristics: the massive, almost permanent flow of passengers. This approach was then applied to a number of regional lines with similar rail traffic density and passenger flow characteristics (notably the Nice Star and the Lorraine-Luxembourg link). Mass transit rail operations are no longer simply the art of making trains run on time, but of simultaneously regulating passenger flows to guarantee train frequency and punctuality, and train traffic to ensure sufficient carrying capacity at all times. The crucial point in operations is to control the time needed for passengers to alight and board, particularly in interchange hubs.

A very high degree of synchronization between the operators of a mass transit rail (MTF) line is required to prevent crowd movements from creating snowball effects that can lead to capacity collapse in a matter of minutes. Interactions with other carriers in interchange hubs or at remarkable sites involve the movement of tens of thousands of passengers per hour, and must also be anticipated and coordinated.

A small number of groups of railway lines around the world have comparable characteristics : suburban lines in London and Paris in Europe, and major networks in Asian metropolises: Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei.