Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: STEPHANE MOUCHMOUCHE / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 14:12 p.m., November 23, 2023

Appearing on TMC's "Quotidien" show on Wednesday night, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo spoke of "two things that we're not going to be ready for" for the Olympic Games, which will be held in the capital next summer. The mayor thus evokes "transport" and "the sheltering of homeless people".

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said on Wednesday evening that "we are not going to be ready" on public transport in the capital at the time of the 2024 Olympic Games, citing an insufficient number and frequency of trains in some places. Interviewed on TMC's Quotidien programme, the socialist mayor spoke of "two things that we are not going to be ready for", namely "transport" and "the sheltering of homeless people".

"We're already in a difficult situation in everyday transport, and we can't catch up with the level (...) punctuality, comfort for Parisians," said Anne Hidalgo. Asked to specify what would not be ready for the Olympic Games (26 July - 11 August) and the Paralympic Games (28 August - 8 September), the mayor mentioned the future RER E Porte Maillot station.

"Trying to create a buzz on Quotidien"

"In fact, there are places where transportation won't be ready because there won't be the number of trains and the frequency," she said. When asked if the responsibility lay with the Île-de-France Region, which has authority over transport in the Ile-de-France region, Anne Hidalgo replied: "the government a little too". "But we're doing it all together, so I'm concerned about it too," she added.

>>

READ ALSO - Paris 2024 Olympic Games: the organisation announces fan zones and dedicated venues to experience the Games even without a ticket

The Minister Delegate for Transport was quick to react. Using a famous meme (hijacked image) on the social network X, Clément Beaune lamented that the mayor of Paris prefers to "try to create a buzz on Quotidien" rather than "participate in the eight strategic committees on transport to prepare" the Games.

https://t.co/Ad0MptphNspic.twitter.com/wR2t2vdEt6

— Clément Beaune (@CBeaune) November 22, 2023

Valérie Pécresse's tackle

"We would have appreciated the presence of Anne Hidalgo at the mobility committees of the Olympic and Paralympic Games if she has proposals to make on transport," also tackled the president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse (LR), on X.

#JeuxOlympiques& Paralympics: We will be ready with @ratp@SNCFVoyageurs & @optile_idf. I would like to thank all their agents for their mobilization over the past few months to rise to the occasion! It's a huge collective effort that shouldn't be denigrated by an absent mayor @CBeaunehttps://t.co/sOU4HZLW5C

— Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) November 23, 2023

"Thank you to her for solving the problem of traffic jams in Paris to allow buses to circulate!" she said ironically. Mobility in the Paris region during the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a challenge for the authorities, "because we have made a commitment that 100% of access to the competition sites can be done by public transport," Clément Beaune said at the end of October. Nearly 15 million spectators and badgeholders are expected to attend the events, the vast majority of which will take place in Paris and Île-de-France.