The RATP plans to open in 2032 a museum dedicated to the history of Parisian urban transport, in the Championnet maintenance workshops in the 18th arrondissement. This project, launched in 2023 by RATP CEO Jean Castex, aims to fill the gap in the capital's memory of its centenary metro and its trams and buses. Unlike Berlin, Stockholm, or London, Paris has lacked such a museum until now.
Paris, a city rich in museums, had no dedicated space for the history of its urban transport until now. Berlin has its U-Bahn Museum, Stockholm its Sparvagsmuseet, and London its Transport Museum, but the French capital is finally addressing this gap. The project for a 'museum of Parisian urban transports' was launched in 2023 by Jean Castex, the new RATP CEO and self-proclaimed 'ferrovipathe,' to honor the centenary metro and the evolution of trams and buses.
Since the initial sketch, the project has taken shape. The RATP announces an opening planned for 2032, in the Championnet maintenance workshops in the 18th arrondissement. This 4-hectare industrial site has been dedicated to urban transport since the late 19th century. It successively belonged to the Compagnie générale des omnibus, the Compagnie du métropolitain parisien, and then the RATP. At the center of this site, a 12,000-square-meter hall built after World War II will house the museum.
This location remained under RATP ownership, despite Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the regional transport organizing authority, acquiring other nearby sites like the adjacent Belliard bus center. IDFM told Le Monde it is 'in no way associated with the transport museum, which is a project of Jean Castex.'
The museum will offer a memorial space dedicated to the RATP's metros and buses, preserving the remnants of this long history.