Travel back in time with the RATP

The RATP is an inexhaustible supplier of Proust madeleines, whether mounted on wheels or gliding on rails. To travel back in time, just watch one of these old buses with platforms, which are sometimes put back into service by volunteer conservationists. Or when a film from the 1960s comes on, the large screen of a route indicator light (PILI), drawing with bright dots the route to follow to reach your final metro station.

The huge souvenir box of the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) – and of its predecessors, before their creation in 1949 – occupies an entire 17,000-square-metre hangar in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Val-de-Marne), in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, housing the authority’s assets whose management has been delegated to its subsidiary Cap Ile-de-France. This sort of mausoleum of Panamese public transport, where its old rolling stock is piously preserved, only opens its doors sparingly, during Heritage Days or to rare groups of visitors. However, aware of the soft power potential represented by its heritage, the RATP intends to highlight it even more by using new forms of promotion.

The project is not yet complete (the location is still to be determined), but the beginnings of creating a Parisian Transport Museum have been achieved. A place where you can immerse yourself in the history of buses and metros. Not only to see the famous pre-war trains or the ephemeral 4.35-metre-high double-decker buses that ran through certain districts between 1968 and 1977, but to climb aboard, touch the wood of the benches, smell a little of the Paris of yesteryear. Perhaps we will also see the operation of the miniature railway network, still 67 metres long, created for the needs of the 1935 World’s Fair in Brussels, before being used as a training tool for metropolitan traffic regulators.

composter

In the little game of patrimonial tenderness, the bus is still one step ahead. It is easier to parade a Renault TN (1931-1971) belching down the Avenue de Clichy than to reappear at the Jules-Joffrin station a Sprague-Thomson train (1908-1935) of the Nord-Sud company, with its red carriages for first class and green for second class; the distinction will last until 1992.

At the request of several associations, the old Parisian buses are once again regularly operating on Sundays, but the RATP has undertaken to organise departures itself (about a hundred a year), to the great delight of Parisians. The most sought-after are the pre-war Renaults, which were accessed from behind under the supervision of an agent wearing a composter around his neck into which he would put the ticket and erase it with a soft noise.

Another cult model, albeit to a lesser extent, is the Saviem SC10 (1965-2002). The latter is recognisable by its curved windscreen to prevent the light from the passenger compartment from disturbing the driver’s night vision. In 1976, the rear of a broken-down SC10 was conveniently transformed into an open-air platform. This fortuitous restoration of old Parisian customs was acclaimed (92 models installed), but impossible to sustain due to the arrival of rear-engined buses.

Rack

According to the temple’s guardians, the metro speaks most to most Parisians, as reflected in particular by the continued success of the guided tours. Create a permanent exhibition space – some materials are already visible at the RATP’s Parisian headquarters, quai de la Rapée, at 12^my district of Paris – would allow us to find the wooden benches of the carriages of yesteryear, topped with an elegant coat rack. Or the doors that some opened with great pleasure even before the train stopped, and the magnificent Art Deco chandeliers of the carriages of the Sceaux line, predecessor of the RER B.

To enhance this heritage, new auctions are planned, following the first experience called “Metro Retro” (171,000 euros raised for the Recueil Social). Carried out at the end of 2021, it led to a raid on signposts, PILI, enamelled identification plates, ceramic tile boxes, turnstiles and even metro carriage doors.

“Parisian transport is present in the collective memory of all generations, including the youngest. For them, the protagonist is Serge the Rabbit, the little character dressed in overalls who warns children not to pinch their hands when the metro doors close automatically.“The rabbit Serge, who is already the subject of a collection of T-shirts and stuffed animals, is expected to expand his sphere of influence even further,” says Emilie Potonet-Stec, the agency’s brand heritage manager. RATP promises that Serge the rabbit, who is already the subject of a collection of T-shirts and stuffed animals, is expected to expand his sphere of influence even further.