By François Lapadu-Hargues
Overview
The two main airports of Paris are Roissy/Charles De
Gaulle (CDG), 15 miles to the north-east, and Orly (ORY), 10 miles on
the south. Roissy/CDG started as a European "domestic" aiport, and now
handles long distance intercontinental flights (541,566 landings and
take-offs in 2006). Orly is mainly devoted to domestic, Europe, French
overseas territories, North Africa, Middle East, and French Canada
flights (229,335 operations in 2006). Roissy and Orly are linked to
Paris by the RER, regional express rail network (RER line B). Two
stations serve CDG directly, while Orly has a connection from Antony
station on the RER to Orly via the "OrlyVal" automatic shuttle.
The OrlyVal system was opened in October 1991. It is
equipped with two-car trains built by Matra (now owned by Siemens),
running between Orly West and Orly South terminal (about half a mile),
and from Orly West to Antony station on the (RER B), about 5 miles.
OrlyVal was initially operated by a separate company but the
operations were later transferred to Paris' public transit company,
RATP. The service is free between Orly West and Orly South terminals,
but to get to the RER B connection at Antony, the price of the ticket
is generally considered as very expensive since it is not supported by
the regional authorities (such is the case for the rest of public
transport in the Ile de France). The OrlyVAL service runs from 6 AM to
11 PM.
The Charles De Gaulle VAL shuttle (RoissyVal) links CDG
Terminal 1, CDG Terminal 3, the RER train station to Paris, the
national railways TGV train station, and two car park facilities. It
is operated with Siemens VAL 208 two-body cars. The service is free
and runs 24 hours, 7 days a week. It was opened in April 2007.
- RoissyVal
http://www.metro-pole.net/actu/breve262.html
RoissyVal fan site, in French. - OrlyVal
http://www.orlyval.com/eu/index_eu.htm
OrlyVal official site, in English/French.
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