While millions of French made their return on public transport on Monday, in this first day of deconfinement, the SNCF and the RATP did not report any major incident. But several lines were crowded early in the morning in the Paris region, arousing the indignation of the unions. 

REPORTAGE

The start of the deconfinement was feared by many workers, worried about having to face possible overloaded means of transport and the fear of being contaminated by the coronavirus. But overall, the resumption of public transport went without major incident. However, metro and RER lines were overloaded early in the morning in the Paris region, triggering outrage from the main RATP union. 

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No major incident, the wearing of the mask generally respected 

Throughout the day, no major incident was reported on the Ile-de-France network, both at the RATP and at the SNCF. Travelers, wearing a mask for the most part, were few, which made it possible to respect the rules of distancing. The RATP, which had closed 60 stations of the Paris metro, estimated attendance Monday morning at 15% to 20% of the average, against 4% during confinement. SNCF made the same observation, the CEO of SNCF Voyageurs (the branch which makes trains run) Christophe Fanichet praising "a first rush hour controlled this morning". 

RER B, RER D, line 13, bus ... the first images show transport where respecting physical distance is impossible.
We warned that an un ready recovery cannot work. It endangers those who cannot telecommute. # deconfinementpic.twitter.com / 1n4JNspxRQ

- Céline Malaisé (@CelineMalaise) May 11, 2020

Some RER B and D were loaded at the start of the service, but "more than 97% of our trains this morning had a low or very low traffic," said a spokesperson. "The results are generally positive", confirms to Europe 1 Didier Mathis, secretary general of the UNSA railway, noting that "collective intelligence has worked".

At the end of the afternoon, on line 13 of the metro, in Asnières, the platforms were almost empty, just like the trains. And at the entrance to the station, two security agents were present to verify that each user was wearing his mask. "This morning, there were a few more people," said Yassine, at the microphone of Europe 1. "It's a bit normal. It was 7:15 am, everyone is going to work." For her part, Marie-Juliette, who was returning to transport, felt that the situation had been well managed. "It was very good. I was stressed this morning, but this was perfect," she said, assuring that "everyone was wearing the mask and complying with the safety measures". 

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Oars all the same crowded on some lines

The main problem concerned line 13 of the metro, due to water infiltration due to heavy precipitation at night. "We had four problems on the 13. Our maintenance teams were very responsive on the ground, and at 6.15 am we opened", a quarter of an hour after the scheduled time, explained RATP CEO Catherine Guillouard. "The 15 minutes that we were late for the opening made that a few people arrived, but we couldn't go faster than that, we just had the network that was in part flooded ".

But beyond the case of line 13, the Unsa-RATP, the first union in the Ile-de-France transport authority, "sounded the alarm bell with solemnity", worrying about "an excessive crowd" on certain lines during the first rush hour of the morning. The union "will support any RATP employee who has used his right of withdrawal because he feels in danger," he added in a press release. "It is up to our leaders to create the conditions so that this right is not used," he warns.

RER B, RER D, line 13, bus ... the first images show transport where respecting physical distance is impossible.
We warned that an un ready recovery cannot work. It endangers those who cannot telecommute. # deconfinementpic.twitter.com / 1n4JNspxRQ

- Céline Malaisé (@CelineMalaise) May 11, 2020

Monday, "the first hour of the morning peak period was complicated with excessive crowding, especially on the north / northwest part of our networks", for example line 13 of the metro, RER B and tram T1, specifies the Unsa-RATP. For the union, the employers of the employees who use these congested portions of the networks of the management "must 'play the game' and work to spread out the hours of the start of the day for their employees".

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What to expect for the next few days?

If operators are generally relieved, they know that from tomorrow, there will be more parents in transport, with the gradual reopening of schools, but also that employees who return to the office one or two days a week have rather preferred to avoid going there on Monday. This is why the RATP plans to further regulate passenger flows, while the SNCF will add three additional trains on lines B and D of the RER. We can also expect more screening at stations, more waiting time before accessing a train.

"This week will allow everyone to get started and be able to ramp up next week by increasing traffic," warns Didier Mathis, of UNSA rail. "Today, we were 60% on the Transilien, 55% on the RER, 35% on the TGV, and 25% in the Intercités. These figures will increase day by day."