Late-hours Paris Metro plan scrapped

PARIS, Feb 14 (AFP) – The state body overseeing public transport in the Paris region has blocked plans by the city to extend the famous Metro’s opening hours on weekends, a municipal official said.

The STIF committee refused to hear a request from Paris City Hall to have the subway system remain open to after 2:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights, instead of the regular closure just after 1:00 am, the local official in charge of city transport, Denis Baupin, said late Friday.

He said the body declined to put the suggestion to a vote, effectively scuttling the idea, which would have eased transport problems for Paris residents and tourists out on the town on those nights.

Baupin, a Greens party member of the left-wing municipal administration, said the decision showed the gap between the “campaign promises and the reality of the decisions” taken by the centre-right national government.

© AFP

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