Paris Métro Line 13 (opened as Line B; French: Ligne 13 du métro de Paris) is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro. It was built by the Nord-Sud Company before becoming Line 13 when the Nord-Sud was merged into the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (CMP) in 1930. Line 13 was extended in 1976 to reach the northern end of Line 14, which was then absorbed into it. The number 14 was eventually reused for a new line in 1998.
Line 13 was once planned to be replaced by a north–south RER line, but this was cancelled after the reorganisation of the Île-de-France region in 1965. Today, Line 13 connects the western part of Paris to the suburbs of Asnières-sur-Seine, Gennevilliers, Clichy, Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine in the north and to Malakoff, Vanves, Châtillon and Montrouge in the south. Serving 32 stations, it is the network's fifth busiest line, with 131.4 million passengers in 2017.
The line will be automated in the early 2030s, becoming the third Paris Metro line to be converted to driverless operation.
Route
At in length, counting both of its northern branches, it is the longest line of the Métro. In 2004, it carried over 114 million riders, about 540,000 per weekday. Annual traffic grew by about ten million passengers after the opening of two new stations on the Asnières branch on 14 June 2008. According to data from December 2009, there are 610,050 riders per day.
Line 13's use of two northern branches serving highly populated areas, its long length, extension into the suburbs, and rapid development of areas that it serves have culminated in the line's overloading, further highlighted by associations representing passengers. It is the most crowded line in the system, especially the section closest to Saint-Lazare.
History
Chronology
26 February 1911: Line B of the Nord-Sud company was opened from Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen. 20 January 1912: A second branch of Line B was opened between La Fourche and Porte de Clichy. 1930: The Nord-Sud company was bought by the CMP company. Line B became Line 13, and the Nord-Sud's planned future Line C was assigned the number 14. 21 January 1937: The original Line 14 was opened between Bienvenüe and Porte de Vanves. 27 July 1937: Line 14 was extended north from Bienvenüe to Duroc and took over the section between Duroc and Invalides from Line 10. 30 June 1952: Line 13 was extended north from Porte de Saint-Ouen to Carrefour Pleyel. 27 June 1973: The line was extended south from Saint-Lazare to Miromesnil. 18 February 1975: The line was extended south from Miromesnil to Champs-Elysées – Clémenceau. 26 May 1976: The line was extended north from Carrefour Pleyel to Saint-Denis – Basilique. 9 November 1976: The line was extended from Champs-Elysées to Invalides. Line 14 was eliminated as a separate line (leaving its number available to be reused in 1998) and incorporated into Line 13. The line was extended south from Porte de Vanves to Châtillon – Montrouge. 9 May 1980: The northwestern branch of the line was extended from Porte de Clichy to Gabriel Péri. 25 May 1998: The northern branch was extended from Basilique de Saint-Denis to Saint-Denis – Université. 14 June 2008: The northwestern branch was extended from Gabriel Péri to Les Courtilles.
Line B of the Nord-Sud Company
On 28 December 1901, the Société du chemin de fer éléctrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris, or Nord-Sud Company, obtained a concession from the City of Paris to build a rapid transit network of two lines concurrent with the more prominent CMP, which had already opened the first lines of the Métro.
Connecting Porte de Saint-Ouen (Paris Métro) and Saint-Lazare (Paris Métro), the construction of Line B began on 19 June 1905 with of track. Four years later, building commenced on the branch to Porte de Clichy. The line ran under Rue d'Amsterdam until its split at La Fourche, with each branch following either the Avenue de Clichy or the Avenue de Saint-Ouen. No connection was provided to the CMP.
On 26 February 1911, Line B opened between Saint-Lazare and Porte de Saint-Ouen, with the northwestern branch to Porte de Clichy opening a year later. Due to the narrow width of Rue d'Amsterdam, Berlin (renamed to Liège) station was built unusually with non-aligned platforms. The Nord-Sud Company operated Line B with 368 trains per day, a minimum of 2.5-minute headways.