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The system consists of 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14, with two minor lines 3bis and 7bis, numbered thus because they are branch lines split off from the original lines 3 and 7. It is the third longest metro in Western Europe, after the London Underground and the Madrid Metro.

Brief technical points:

• 213 km (132 miles) of track, over 300 stations
• circulation is on the right
• track gauge of 1.435 meters ( standard gauge, like the French main lines) -- but trains are narrower than mainlines, so the Metro can run on mainlines but not vice versa
• power collection: third rail
• average distance between stations is approx 300 m (328 yards)
• lines 1, 4, 6, 11, and 14 are rubber-tired
• line 14 is driverless (fully automatic)

One single ticket price for any journey, unlimited connections, but limited to a 2-hour ride.

A second network of regional express lines, the RER (Réseau Express Régional) complements the network since the 1970s.

1 Existing lines

1: La Défense - Château de Vincennes

• First section opened July 19, 1900
  
• Converted to rubber-tired operation 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort
  

2: Porte DauphinThe Dauphin was the heir apparent to the throne of France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. Guy VIII, Count of Vienne, had a dolphin on his coat of arms and had been nicknamed le Dauphin ( French for dolphin . The title of Dauphin du Viennois descene - Nation

• First section opened December 13December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 18 days remaining. Events 1545 Council of Trent begins 1577 Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, on his round-the-world voyage 1642 Abel Janszoon Tasm, 1900
  

3: Pont de Levallois-Bécon - Gallieni

• First section opened October 19October 19 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 73 days remaining. Events 202 BC Battle of Zama, resulting in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. 439 The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in N, 19041904 is a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 7 The distress signal " CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by " SOS. February 7 A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30
  

3bis: GambettaLeon Bonnat Leon Gambetta ( April 2, 1838 December 31, 1882), French statesman, was born at Cahors. He is said to have inherited his vigour and eloquence from his father, a Genoese grocer who had married a Frenchwoman named Massabie. At the age of fifteen - Porte des Lilas

• Opened November 27November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year. There are 34 days remaining. Events 399 St. Anastius I becomes Pope. 1095 Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. 1703 The first Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed in, 1921 (then part of line 3)
  
• Detached from line 3 April 2, 1971
  

4: Porte de Clignancourt - Porte d' Orléans

• First section opened April 21, 1908
  
• Converted to rubber-tired operation 1967
  

5: Place d'Italie - Bobigny- Pablo Picasso

• First section opened June 2, 1906 (some sections opened earlier are now part of line 6)
  

6: Charles de Gaulle-Étoile - Nation

• First section opened October 2, 1900 (then part of line 5)
  
• Converted to rubber-tired operation 1974
  

7: Villejuif- Louis Aragon/Mairie d'Ivry - La Courneuve-8 Mai 1945

• First section opened November 5, 1910
  

7bis: Louis Blanc - Pré-Saint-Gervais

• Opened January 18, 1911 (then part of line 7)
  
• Detached from line 7 December 3, 1967
  

8: Balard - Créteil- Préfecture

• First section opened July 13, 1913
  

9: Pont de Sèvres - Mairie de Montreuil

• First section opened November 8, 1922
  

10: Boulogne-Pont de Saint-Cloud - Gare d' Austerlitz

• First section opened July 13, 1913 (then part of line 8)
  

11: Châtelet - Mairie des Lilas

• First section opened April 28, 1935
  
• Converted to rubber-tired operation November 8, 1956
  

12: Mairie d'Issy - Porte de La Chapelle

• First section opened November 5, 1910 (as part of Nord-Sud line A)
  

13: Châtillon-Montrouge - Gabriel Péri-Asnières-Gennevilliers/Saint Denis-Université

• First section opened February 26, 1911 (as part of Nord-Sud line B)
  
• First section opened by CMP December 30, 1923 (then part of line 10)
  

• First section (Madeleine - Bibliothèque François Mitterrand) opened October 15, 1998
  
• Saint-Lazare terminus opened December 16, 2003
  
• Olympiade terminus (instead of Bibliothèque) is to open in 2006.

Line 14 is fully automated. There are no drivers in trains. The platforms are separated from the tracks by transparents walls, and both the trains and platforms have doors that open automatically when the train is stopped, perfectly aligned with the doors.

An earlier line 14 Invalides-Porte de Vanves existed from July 29, 1937, when it was detached from line 10, to November 9, 1976, when it was incorporated into line 13.

See also: Stations of the Paris Metro