Public transport. Comparing the attractiveness of London and Paris

The IAU Île-de-France (Paris Region Urban Planning and Development Agency) has undertaken a comparative study of Paris and London focusing on the attractiveness of their public transport systems, the transport offer and the regularity of services on their networks.

In terms of railway services, London’s network is denser than its Paris counterpart (316 stations in Greater London as compared with 234 stations in the Paris Region conurbation) and provides a more comprehensive coverage of its territory. By contrast the Paris Region stations enjoy a more frequent service than the London stations during peak periods.

The underground network supplements the system serving Greater London with a network that’s relatively sparse in the city centre but provides lines extending right to the outskirts of the city and even beyond in some cases. By contrast the Paris Métro network is very dense in the centre but lacks coverage of the city’s outskirts. Paris outperforms London in average service frequency by line and by direction of travel during peak periods (38 trains in Paris compared with 23 in London).
Overall the study shows that Paris Region offers a much more extensive network of subways, trams, RER,… than London while the position of the bus is higher in London.

© RATP

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