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Metro: The Launch Date of Line 18 is Finally Official!

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The Editor

© Laurent Grandguillot / Société des grands projets

After years of patiently waiting, the Grand Paris Express finally seems to be opening its doors to us. Yet while we've pinned all our hopes on Line 15 for months, it's actually Line 18 that will kick things off, with (almost) no delays. And here's the good news—it's happening very soon!

It's undoubtedly the best metro news of the week — if not the month, or even the year. While we're usually more accustomed to delivering bad news, construction work and strikes, this time around, what joy it is to tell you about the very imminent arrival of the first trains on metro line 18!


A perfectly acceptable delay

In December 2025, the news became official: line 18, which many already call the « best line of the Greater Paris Express », would open its doors before the 15th. At the time, Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) and the Society of Major Projects were talking about a

the date in October 2026. And here's some good news — unlike the other future lines, line 18 will only have "just" two little months of delay! Indeed, the first stations will welcome passengers as early as December! This is the perfect time to inaugurate the stations of Massy-Palaiseau, Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay and Christ de Saclay. A small revolution for all the students on the Saclay plateau, and more broadly for around 110,000 Île-de-France residents impacted by its opening.


The beginning of an exciting journey

As a reminder, line 18 will be the fastest line in the Île-de-France rail network, and during peak hours, trains should run at a frequency of approximately one train every three minutes. And this major innovation is just the start of the revolution, since this opening will only be the first in a long series. Indeed, line 15 — originally planned for 2022 once again — should open its first section in late 2027, and lines 16 and 17, the final two, should begin to offer their services starting in 2028. Well, let's be patient just a bit longer, tell ourselves we're on the right track after all, and most importantly let's get ready for December!