At the Châtelet metro station in Paris.

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Clément Follain / 20 Minutes

The poor quality of the air breathed by Parisians is at the heart of a legal action against the RATP.

The association Respire lodged a complaint Monday against the public establishment for "aggravated deception" and "unintentional injuries", implicating the levels of pollution in the Paris metro.

According to this complaint, filed before the Paris court, there is "a critical level of air pollution in the underground railway enclosures of the RATP".

To support this assertion, the association is based on two reports that it itself produced in 2019 and 2021, from which it emerges that the air in the Paris metro and RER is "much more polluted with fine particles" than 'outside.

Battle over the numbers

Respire said in January that the RATP data does not reflect the real levels of pollution in the metro, which the public operator disputed.

“All public transport users are exposed to considerable health risks.

However, RATP deliberately refrains from alerting users of its network to the risks they run, ”the association argues.

"This is the reason why the Respire association took the decision to file this complaint, given the seriousness of these facts".

"We hope by this action to make them react - finally - to protect the health of millions of daily users of the metro", also argued the director of Respire, Olivier Blond.

The association recalls in its complaint that according to scientific studies, "air pollution causes between 48,000 and 100,000 deaths each year".

RATP details its measures

The RATP for its part recalled that air quality was for it "a priority" for "more than 20 years".

Since 1997, the operator has carried out “continuous measurements” on “three representative sites” available online.

“Any other measurement carried out with portable sensors, which are not the reference devices, are not comparable to measurements carried out on site.

(…) The results of these portable devices can only be indicative and not true, ”added RATP, in response to Respire's latest report.

The company also detailed its efforts to reduce pollution, thanks to the “electric braking” of trains or to experimental air treatment devices in stations, and is investing in the ventilation of its network.

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  • Fine particles

  • Air quality

  • Air pollution

  • Justice

  • RATP

  • Paris