Toward a Safer Environment
Toward a Safer Environment
Passenger safety is one of the key areas of focus for Equans France, and a major challenge for the Grand Paris Express and its two to three million daily riders.
Infrastructure that is invisible to passengers, yet three times as numerous as the Grand Paris Express stations, service structures, also known as ancillary structures, provide power to the infrastructure and enable train operations, as well as ventilation of the tunnel and stations (smoke extraction in case of fire and air renewal), access to the tunnel by emergency services (fire department response and passenger evacuation), as well as the collection of seepage water.
Essential for ensuring the smooth operation of the metro, as well as passenger comfort and safety, utility structures are located at intervals of no more than 800 meters.
In total, Equans contributed to the utility work on 98 ancillary structures on lines 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, ensuring that the facilities comply with the strictest safety standards.
Axima Tunnel, a division of Equans France, in a partnership with Eiffage as part of the FAN consortium, and supported by Ineo UTS for electrical power supplyand control systems, has thus won several contracts for ventilation, smoke extraction, and pressure equalization in the tunnels of Lines 14 South, 15 South, 16, 17, and 18 East of the GPE.
Installed both within service structures and along the tunnels, these ventilation systems are designed to optimize air exchange in the tunnels, maintaining a breathable atmosphere and effectively evacuating smoke in the event of a fire.
The work includes the installation of powerful 355-kW fans capable of managing airflow under a variety of conditions, thereby ensuring maximum comfort and safety for passengers and operating personnel.
Last June, the Bouygues Group subsidiary was also selected to provide all of the power supply and tunnel ventilation systems for the six service structures on Line 15 West.
Platform walls: a key element in passenger safety
On each platform, these need to be installed to prevent falls onto the tracks, improve the flow of passenger traffic, and enhance operations.
In a consortium with Portalp, Ineo UTS is responsible for project management, systems engineering, power supply, control and command, supervision, and the installation of its systems on Lines 14, 16, 17, and 18.
With 35 km of automated metro track, including 13 km above ground, the line will be able to carry between 150,000 and 200,000 passengers each day. Safety is therefore a major concern.
To address this, Equans and its partner Portalp are installing 1.21 km of platform facades, including 840 meters for the seven stations in the confirmed phase: Orly Airport, Antonypôle, Massy Opéra, Massy Palaiseau, Palaiseau, Orsay-Gif, and CEA Saint-Aubin.
Upon completion of this major project, all twenty platforms on Line 18 will be equipped with 12 platform doors, 9 of which will be operational as early as 2026, and 3 are planned for a future extension of the trains.
On each platform, a manual station control panel allows for local control of the panel display. In total, Equans will install 912 platform doors (384 for Line 14, 288 for Lines 16/17, and 240 for Line 18) across all these lines!
“ Tomorrow, a concrete, tangible infrastructure will make it possible to decarbonize the city, and we will have put our expertise to work in support of this transition. I think the whole team can be proud of this! ”
Installation of Fire Safety Systems (SSI)
When it comes to fire prevention, Axima and Ineo have installed Fire Safety Systems (SSI) in the new Orly station, which will serve Lines 14 and 18, as well as the new Saint-Denis Pleyel station and the Villejuif-Gustave Roussy station.
The installation of early fire detection systems and fire suppression devices in the tunnels enables a rapid and effective response in the event of a fire.
Since 2020, Equans France has been deploying a private LTE mobile network
More recently, in partnership with Nokia, Equans France is deploying the private LTE mobile network for the new automated lines 15, 16, and 17, covering 200 kilometers of track and 68 stations. Standing out for the technology used—LTE1, which is more reliable and secure than standard technologies—Equans, through its subsidiary Ineo Rail, has taken charge of managing the project, from the design and procurement phases through to its full implementation.
LTE1 technology is a variant of 4G mobile telecommunications networks, often adapted to rail needs to enable stable, high-speed communications in mobile environments. It is similar to the mobile phone networks used by the general public but has been modified to meet the specific requirements of rail transportation (such as train-to-ground communication).
The project’s goal is to provide critical operational services to meet all operational and maintenance needs, as well as the emergency and safety service requirements of the future Grand Paris Express transit network.
The technology is thus particularly useful for ensuring mobile communications, particularly between moving trains and ground-based systems, where it offers great flexibility. Essential for the management and safety of rail transit networks, this solution addresses key needs for the modernization of rail and public transit networks.
For Lines 15, 16, and 17, Ineo Infracom, Ineo UTS, Ineo Rail, and Nokia are also responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of the 4G radio equipment.
This is a real technical challenge: to become the first private 4G network for the operational needs of the RATP, the future operator of these lines, with indoor geolocation for its employees.
This project covers 49 GPE stations, 133 ancillary structures, 4 maintenance sites, 2 control centers (PCC) plus 1 backup control center (PCC), approximately 130 km of track, and 159 trains.
The radio solution, which combines voice, data, and video, will enable telephone communications, the sending and receiving of files, and the transmission of onboard video surveillance footage at speeds of several Mbit/s.
Equans is also involved in maintaining operational readiness, installing, and maintaining new cameras throughout the Greater Paris area. In this region, Equans integrates the video surveillance system designed to secure urban areas.
