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Public Transportation in Paris (RATP)

Régie Autonome des Transport Parisiens (RATP), is the transportation company for the urban areas of Paris, France. The company uses a Airbus TETRA system for their communications over the whole area.

Paris, France - Eiffel Tower

Project information

Around 3 billion people each year ride the Paris metro, tram, bus and regional express trains through Paris and the Île-de-France. That makes the RATP the densest and largest metropolitan transportation system in the world.

To keep Parisians and visitors flowing seamlessly, the RATP must keep its communications flowing seamlessly, as well. To that end, RATP relies on a fully integrated Airbus TETRA network to connect 15,000 users on:

  • 4,348 buses
  • 321 metro stations
  • 2 RER lines (66 train stations)
  • 2 tramway lines.

TETRA solution

The network supports RATP in Paris and also in its surrounding areas, and it consists of Airbus TETRA switches and 450 base stations.

When setting up RAPT's network, one of the key questions was how to provide adequate underground coverage.

Among other things, engineers had to:

  • Share cables between different radio networks
  • Manage planning and power budgets
  • Create successful handovers in the tunnels.
Metro sign in Paris

RATP uses the TETRA system in particular for:

  • Group calls
  • Status and SDS messages
  • Emergency calls.

They also use Dynamic Group Number Assignment (DGNA). This allows RATP to create unique user groups on demand for special events or special needs, such as incident communications. 

The TETRA system helps RATP keep Paris Metro, buses and trams moving!