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Paris to bid a final adieu to the traditional Metro ticket

The Local France
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Paris to bid a final adieu to the traditional Metro ticket
Photo: Generalised/Flickr

Those little pieces of card that you carry around when you take the Paris Metro will soon become extinct.

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For 118 years, from the opening of the first line in 1900, those little rectangles of white card with a magnetic black line on the back have necessary  for most people to get around Paris.

But not for much longer.

Transport authorities in Paris have released plans that spell the end of the traditional Metro ticket.

From 2019 Metro and transport users will be able to purchase two new travel cards rather than buy the tiny pieces of white card with a magnetic strip on the back.

"We are creating two new cards, designed to replace the magnetic tickets, which better suit the needs of our users, according to their profile," read a statement from Paris transport authority Ile-de-France Mobilités.

The first pass that can be used with the Navigo monthly travel card called "Navigo Liberté+" will be launched in October 2019.

The Navigo Liberté+ is designed for those who travel regularly around Paris but not enough for them to consider buying a monthly Navigo pass that allows unlimited travel.

Transport authorities believe the pass will interest the 1.2 million people who make around 20 trips on public transport in Paris each month.

The pass will allow travellers to use the Metro, RER, buses and trams and just pay for each journey. The price of that journey will be the same as the cost of a Metro ticket if you but a discounted pack of 10 tickets, which currently costs €14.90, so €1.49 per journey.

The price of a single Metro, tram or bus ticket in Paris is €1.90 or €2 if you pay on a bus.

The Navigo Liberté+ card will be linked to a bank card so will not need to be topped up regularly and the costs of each journey simply subtracted directly.

READ ALSO: The things you didn't know about those tiny Metro tickets

 

Importantly the card will allow travellers to use the same ticket to take the Metro and then the bus or the tram which currently requires people to buy two tickets.

The second pass that will be made available is the "Navigo Easy" which will be more designed for occasional travellers, such as tourists, with the user having to top up the card by paying for journeys to be added on, whether single tickets or a group of 10.

The contactless card, based on London's Oyster cards, will made available in April 2019 and will cost €2. The Navigo Easy cards can be shared by anyone.

"There will be no time limit on them and the card is not nominative, meaning it can be given to a friend," said Ile-de-FRance Mobilites, who believe some 5.8 million people will be interested in using the Navigo Easy card.

The two cards therefor spell the end of the traditional tickets, which are sold at machines.

While some may be sad to see them go, Paris transport authority Ile-de-France Mobilités say they want to save on waste - some 550 million tickets are printed each year. Many, like cigarette butts, end up being tossed onto pavements around the capital.

But Paris transport users still have a little time to make the most of those pieces of card as they are only set to become finally extinct in 2021.

 

 

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Anonymous 2018/07/13 12:44
Fantastic, the cards so often do not work and they are not user friendly, bring it on!

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