The Observatory of the 10 new station neighbourhoods along Line 18 has revealed the importance of a metro line serving territories under development on the outskirts of the Metropolis, which are at present sparsely populated and offer few job opportunities but are set to change significantly by 2030. Of the 5 new metro lines which will make up the Grand Paris Express Network (RGPE), Line 18 is the one which crosses territories the furthest from the centre of the metropolis, where countryside and farmland are still very much in evidence. Line 18 is also the RGPE line which has the largest number of completely new stations (8 out of 10). To the east, it will connect the future urban campus on the Saclay plateau with the Massy hub and Orly Airport, and to the west, the new town of Saint-Quentin en Yvelines with Versailles. It will therefore play a key role in the improvement high volume public transport metro and train services for the inhabitants and working population of the territories, those living in the metropolis and also those in the outer suburbs for whom Line 18 will provide a point of entry and feeder service to the central metropolitan transport network.
The Observatory has also revealed that the territories traversed are not homogenous, in particular as regards their socio-economic profiles. The neighbourhood of Versailles Chantiers and the three station neighbourhoods on the Saclay plateau (CEA Saint-Aubin, Orsay-Gif and Palaiseau) have more positive profiles in the socio-professional, income and youth index categories, compared to the other station neighbourhoods, in particular the neighbourhood of Massy Opéra which has a high proportion of underprivileged households.
The development dynamic, both underway and projected, in the station neighbourhoods also varies from one neighbourhood to the other, some stations being integrated into an already existing fabric, often residential, and others having to create a new polarity – or strengthen one already in place – in newly-developing neighbourhoods or those under-developed until now. Line 18 crosses neighbourhoods which will look very different by the time their stations are built, such as the 3 station neighbourhoods situated on the Saclay plateau in the future urban campus which is under construction as we speak.
