BELGRAND — SAINT-FARGEAU

RATP formally started the main works on 20 May 2026. The programme is not a cosmetic refurbishment: it is a phased reconstruction of an industrial metro site that has operated for more than a century, combined with a sizeable housing and public-space project.

The current RATP timetable placed track-removal and building strip-out in the summer of 2026, followed by building demolition from the fourth quarter of 2026 into the first quarter of 2027. That means people living around rue Belgrand, rue de la Py, Gambetta and Porte de Bagnolet are entering the most visibly disruptive early stage of a project that will continue for years.

RATP says a local project liaison remains in place for residents and shopkeepers, and its project page links to current works notices, site journals and follow-up meeting documents. For street-level access or noisy exceptional works, those live notices are more useful than assuming the construction pattern will remain unchanged week to week.

The transport reason for the redevelopment is the incoming MF19 metro fleet. RATP says eight metro lines will receive the new trains between 2025 and 2035, and the older maintenance infrastructure must be adapted for the rolling stock.

At Saint-Fargeau, the new train-maintenance workshop is intended to support the modernised fleet on Lines 3bis and 7bis and then Line 3 from 2030. The project includes more modern and mechanised equipment and a redesigned workflow inside the industrial site.

For passengers, the important distinction is that this September update is not a new service-change notice. It is long-term enabling infrastructure. Any actual Line 3, 3bis or 7bis closures or timetable changes still need to be checked separately against live RATP traffic information.

The redevelopment uses land freed after RATP’s equipment-maintenance function moved to Vaugirard. RATP says that shift released roughly 5,000 m² for other uses and allowed the Belgrand site to be redesigned rather than simply rebuilt behind the same walls.

The current programme provides for about 90 family homes, with 50% social housing. RATP says the social component is aimed in particular at essential workers, including RATP employees, so more workers can live closer to their jobs.

At street level, the plan includes shops and activity premises. A new 800 m² public garden will sit within the project, while the public-realm package includes widening rue de la Py and creating a small square opposite place Édith Piaf.

The housing programme is being delivered by Marignan with RATP Solutions Ville. The City of Paris lists around 5,900 m² of housing floor area and 400 m² of shops and activity space across the planned buildings.

RATP presents Belgrand as both an industrial modernisation and a climate-adaptation project. The latest project page lists an additional 1,400 m² of planted full-ground area and around 5,000 m² of green roofs, including roughly 4,200 m² on the RATP workshop itself.

Another unusually practical feature is water reuse. Groundwater pumped at Porte de Bagnolet station is planned to be reused for non-potable purposes such as toilets, cleaning buildings and trains, and irrigating planted areas.

RATP also says it is targeting recovery or beneficial use of 95% of construction waste, alongside reuse and recycling targets for materials and equipment. These measures are intended to reduce the project’s resource demand rather than simply adding greenery after construction.

Belgrand is not just another transport depot. RATP describes it as the oldest metro site still in operation, and the redevelopment will keep a group of buildings dating from 1904 that reflect the architecture of the early Métropolitain.

That preservation matters because the project is otherwise substantial: old industrial functions are being reorganised, new buildings are being introduced and parts of the site will become public or residential. Keeping the 1904 fabric gives the future complex a visible link to the infrastructure that shaped eastern Paris more than a century ago.

RATP’s updated programme currently sets out the following sequence:

• 20 May 2026: main works begin.
• June–September 2026: track removal, hoardings and building strip-out.
• Q4 2026–Q1 2027: demolition of buildings scheduled for removal.
• 2027–2028: structural works for the train-maintenance workshop.
• 2029–2030: second-fix workshop works and start of housing construction.
• Mid-2030: new maintenance workshop planned to enter service; garden works begin.
• 2031: planned delivery of the housing and garden, with the rue de la Py widening and small-square works.

Long construction schedules can move. Those dates are the current official programme, not a guarantee that every individual phase will start on one fixed day.

For residents around Gambetta and Porte de Bagnolet, the near-term story is construction management: hoardings, demolition, truck movements and changing work zones around a large site. RATP says it is maintaining a local information channel and publishing works letters as the programme progresses.

For everyday Metro users, the larger payoff is later. The rebuilt Saint-Fargeau workshop is part of the infrastructure needed for newer trains on the small 3bis and 7bis lines and eventually Line 3. The project also changes the edge of the depot from a mostly industrial enclave into a mixed piece of neighbourhood with homes, greenery and public space.

If you are travelling through the 20th rather than living beside the site, there is no reason to treat this project update as a new Metro disruption by itself. Check live RATP service information for journeys; check the Belgrand project page for construction-specific access information.

This article was checked on 19 September 2026 against RATP’s official Belgrand–Saint-Fargeau project page, which was modified on 11 September 2026, and the City of Paris project page. Where older City wording differs from the newer RATP programme, the latest RATP figures and timetable are used.

• Groupe RATP — Restructuration du site Belgrand–Saint-Fargeau
• Ville de Paris — Belgrand Saint-Fargeau: la restructuration du site est amorcée