How to transport 10 million spectators without falling into the fiasco of the Champions League final in May 2022 at the Stade de France? This is the challenge facing the Olympic and Paralympic Games by the transport authority of the capital region, Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), which revealed its plan Sunday to avoid the disorder feared by many Ile-de-France residents.

The Olympic Games will take place from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11, 2024. Seven million people are expected, and up to 500,000 spectators per day with peaks scheduled for July 28 and August 2. For the Paralympics, from August 28 to September 8, this represents about 3 million people.

25 sites to serve

The plan "is not trivial because there is not only one site to serve, but 25 that operate at the same time," said IDFM CEO Laurent Probst during a meeting with the press. In Saint-Denis, around the Stade de France, peaks are expected at 1,000 people per minute "but for several hours, it is quite unprecedented to manage," according to Laurent Probst. In Versailles, to transport 40,000 spectators to the Royal Star for equestrian cross-country, bus shuttles will be organized from the stations at the rate of two rotations every minute, "a military organization," insisted Laurent Probst.

Even if the number of trains will be increased by 15%, the main challenge lies in the distribution of passengers between the existing lines. "We are on a target of 100% of people who come to the Stade de France by public transport" against 60% on average usually, said Laurence Debrincat, director of studies and Olympic Games at IDFM.



Dedicated mobile app

Paris-2024 will therefore recommend to spectators holding tickets a route to be preferred to "encourage them to find" lines other than those normally taken, the Stade de France being served for example by the RER but also the metro. "To get to a site, forget how you usually go there and go as you are told told," explained Laurence Debrincat.

IDFM is also working on an application dedicated to transport during the Olympics, and will have 5,000 agents in stations to guide travelers.

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