Stations 25 | Locale 3 communes Opened 1904 | |
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Termini Pont de Levallois – BéconGallieni Ridership 87,600,000 (avg. per year)9th/16 |
Line 3 ([liɲᵊ tʁwa]) is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system in Paris, France. Connecting Pont de Levallois - Bécon station in the near western suburbs to Gallieni in the east, the location of Paris' international bus station. After opening as the third line in 1904, the line was the subject of a number of extensions, with a major restructuring occurring in the eastern section in 1971, with an extension to Gallieni and the conversion of the original terminal branch to Line 3bis.
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With a length of 11.7 km (7 mi), Line 3 crosses Paris from west to east completely on the Right Bank, serving the residential areas of the 17th arrondissement, Saint-Lazare station, important stores and shopping centres, the area around the Place de l'Opéra, and the east of the city. In 2004, it carried 87.6 million passengers, making it the ninth busiest line of the Métro.

Chronology

A second east–west axis

The infrastructure works for Line 3 were auctioned off in six sections on 24 May 1902. The concession was granted to the CMP by the municipal government of Paris on 13 March 1903, but the declaration of public utility was only granted on 26 February 1907.

The works were rendered difficult due to the necessary displacement of existing underground infrastructure such as water, gas, and electricity lines, but also because the Line 3 was to cross a number of Métro lines, particularly at Opéra, where a special pit was built to house the intersection of Lines 3, 7, and 8. This masonry pit was 20 m (66 ft) and constructed fully so as to avoid any problems when building subsequent lines. Since the work was situated at the water table, it required concrete pillars made by sinking caissons with compressed air. The work lasted eleven months, from March 1903 to February 1904.

Another difficult point of construction was the crossing of the Canal Saint-Martin. To build underneath it, the canal was dried and its vault hanged. In the area of the Place Gambetta, because of the instability of the subsoil, which consisted of waterlogged sand balls, made it necessary to drain the soil, a very delicate operation considering the number of buildings that could be destabilised. Then the side walls were built from masonry shafts that are dark from the outside.
Plans
Renamed stations

Facts

Tourism
Line 3 passes near several places of interest :