Petite Ceinture: New Abandoned Section Now Open & New Replacement Line Under Construction

BONUS VIDEO!* This week I discovered that a short new section of the Petite Ceinture - Paris's abandoned circular railway - has been reopened as a footpath. It seemed rude not to go and explore...
* And by BONUS VIDEO I mean NOT AS GOOD AS A NORMAL VIDEO BUT HEY IT'S LOCKDOWN
B1M video: • The $45BN New Railway ...
Le Ferrovipathe: • Le Grand Paris Express...
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IMAGE CREDITS
Line 15 map by Pic-Sou: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Grand Paris Express map by Hektor: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

[@nitro5401]

The jazz club is called La Gare, it's very good quality music and you pay "au chapeau", meaning you pay what you want. I went there so many times! Hope it reopens soon...

[@michaelfokias]

I might visit Paris just for this Jazz club. How cool

[@petero6471]

"It provides many spaces for local artists to express themselves." HILARIOUS !!!

[@thoughtengine]

If you mean "many spaces for local scumbags' pissing contests."

[@Richardincancale]

I am an artist based ten minutes away - I shall certainly visit and use it as inspiration!

[@jimififul]

Just what I thought. "A space for local vandals to defile historic buildings."

[@900108Chale]

@@jimififul You just gave us the definition of: "Contemporary (f)Art."

[@marcel1372]

HILARIOUS one, Peter O ! ! !

[@waerlogauk]

Tim, Tom Scott and the Map Men in one day, brilliant!

[@TheSam1902]

I was in that park when it was still under construction ! And indeed, it's a great walk from Porte de Charenton to Rosa Parks ! You have to get through two tunnels starting from Maraicher: the one from Maraicher to Parc de Belleville and then there is another smaller one from Belleville to Buttes Chaumont. Also, from inside the Buttes Chaumont it's possible to get down onto the dissused railway portion and I once met a violonist filming a clip there, and another time some sort of large summer camp group of kids lol. There's also an amazing arched bridge over that section of the tracks at the intersection of Rue de Crimee and Rue Manin (north of the park).

[@duckydashcam751]

Great little areas that nobody would know about if you didn't show them. Definitely going to visit when I go to France!

[@fb1880]

It's pretty famous in France if you like street art..

[@t0n0k0]

Oh my,,😳 Railway Station named Rosa Parks in Paris. I definitely didn't know that nor expected it. Good to know.

[@EmyrDerfel]

This needs a Tim video.

[@AnnabelSmyth]

@@EmyrDerfel It does indeed - also, all the tram stops that are named for women, which is great, as I think only Louise Michels is on the métro "proper".

[@elleryeggen9678]

IKR?!! "Rosa Parks Line E." Spectacular!

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

Communist invasion

[@toddnolastname4485]

Somebody's doing some serious virtue signaling.

[@BenSenneck92]

2:10 the circle of life, nice 👍

[@eekee6034]

That building in the thumbnail! It looks like a total mess until suddenly, you see the beautiful face! Only in France; I love it. :)

[@DetroitMicroSound]

Look up "Dequindre Cut" in Detroit. We're nodding at one-another, Paris, and the D. 😉

[@officialmcdeath]

Le Ferrovipathe is an excellent KZbin channel - glad to hear you recommend him \m/

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Thanks Tim, for providing hope for the future and the humor with which sustain ourselves until it arrives. I cannot wait...for your next video.

[@asdmcc2]

I was in Paris last week for a trip and although I didn't get to La Petite Ceinture, I did manage Buttes-Chaumont and what a wonderful park that is. The Belvedere was off limits due to rock fall risk but we had a great walk around. Thanks for showing me that there are other parts of Paris worth a visit! Also I learned a new word - 'flâneur'. My daughter's english teacher had used it in her class and my daughter used it in a comment on a photo of me and my cousin watching the world go by on Rue des Capucines. Merci. Les Flâneurs Écossais.

[@kittymervine6115]

I hope not 2025!!! We miss you Tim! My husband and I are, "Is there a new Tim?"

[@shiteguides]

You know corona restrictions are hitting travel shows when videos begin in your local carpark! Great video man, loving it as always

[@TheTimTraveller]

A half hour walk still technically counts as travelling right? Cheers mate :)

[@shiteguides]

@@TheTimTraveller Really love your style man. Very calming.

[@TheGreatSteve]

Next video: Paris's best dogging sites.

[@Luick14]

@@TheTimTraveller I really don't mind you travelling only in my beloved City of Paris until you've done all the possible videos of it :D

[@AnnabelSmyth]

@@Luick14 I rather agree! I lived there 50 years ago, and love to see the differences between the city then and now!

[@Foddeur]

Ah, the EOLE! Recognised it from the get-go with those buildings with the circular windows in the background at 0:05. Had no idea the Petite Ceinture was in the same area as the line!

[@bigbrowntau]

Thanks again Tim for another entertaining video. I"m sure I speak for many of us in saying we really appreciate the effort you're putting in, doing your best to produce content given the restrictions you have on travel. Stay safe, and looking forward to the next video when you're ready and safe enough to make it.

[@dryroasted5599]

My gratitude to my favorite European for his willingness and skill at entertaining us adventure-starved fans. Thank you.

[@ebenizerb.schlestertrappdu6943]

YOU stay safe, my friend. We need more videos like this one...

[@Nyctarath]

Hearing your perfect french with your british accent is a candy for my french ears.

[@PodgyAsthmatic]

Excellent update, thanks. This little line is fascinating, I'd love to see more so cant wait for further updates. Keep it up, thanks.

[@SaturnCanuck]

Thanks. Stay safe and healthy and have a great Christmas

[@xouxoful]

There’s still a (long term) project to reopen this section for rail service, as an extension for line T8, starting at Rosa Parks.

[@marcelmoulin3335]

Quel grand plaisir! Merci. Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année! Je vous envoie de meilleurs voeux des Pays-Bas.

[@tim3609]

You mentioning the B1M channel is oddly accurate. I found your channel through Jay Foreman who I discovered through Tom Scott and one of those led me to the B1M and Geoff Marshall.

[@lisez2098]

I am the other way around - I found Jay Foreman and Tom Scot (and Half-Asleep Chris ) via Tim ‘s channel. :)

[@MaximumEfficiency]

BLM? Organized and funded by George Soros ;)

[@PineappleSkip]

I found your channel through Jay Foreman and/or Geoff Marshall. KZbin then spammed me with the B1M and Tom Scott.

[@svenlakemeier]

The B1M is just copying information together and reads it out to stock footage. Why is this popular on KZbin?

[@cpfodarkvader]

I saw the first image of the video and I was like "wait, i know that sad place" and sure enough, I used to walk there 4 times a day to go to and from my workplace just next to it. It's wild to see it after covid because it actually got ... a lot cleaner.

[@mainlywalks2932]

Great video, all these railway walks got me doing all the London Ones...

[@LadyLexyStarwatcher]

If push comes to push Tim I will gladly watch an other video on the apartment flat with the highest density of Tim Travelers in the world. Stay safe!

[@FrauWNiemand]

I love those great bonus videos. even pariseans might find something they didn't knew before. I really get happy every time a new Tim video comes out.

[@ColinH1973]

Lovely diversion from the current grim reality. Thanks Tim, you are a star!

[@alcaulique8358]

I am a native french speaker but now whenever I read Petite Ceinture. I read it with your accent...

[@sinansn6499]

Great video thank you for sharing

[@nickauclair1477]

I love the irony. Great video.

[@neilbain8736]

Given the space issues in Paris, its amazing that it has survived for so long intact and abandoned. J'aime La Petite Cienture.

[@joehoe222]

One Hooray for slow bureaucracy that saved it XD

[@unlapras9365]

In fact, the Petite Ceinture has only been abandoned since 1991. From 1934 to 1991, it was still in use for freight trains bypassing Paris. Even if most of the infrastructure has been preserved, some parts have been demolished anyway due to bad political choices, whichs means it will never be possible to ride the entire loop again :(

[@neilbain8736]

@@unlapras9365 That explains why where the track remained, it clearly was disused, but didn't look like 80 years worth of neglect.

[@targaR32]

Thank you!

[@philrabe910]

How ever did you know that I'm a Huge B1M fan? Next to the Traveling Tim, bien sur.

[@Cycliberte]

I’d love a collab with Le Ferrovipathe so much!

[@jnicolas92]

Hey Tim, thanks for this video, it's cool to see the Petite Ceinture railway focused on KZbin. Just a slight imprecision though: it seemed to me that you said the Pont de Flandre and the Petite Ceinture closed in 1934; actually, only the passenger trains stopped in 1934, but the line remained open to freight trains late until 1994 😉

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Wait, they named a station after Rosa Parks? That's pretty cool! And you pretty much had the disused railway to yourself

[@aymericsauzet5077]

There is also a lot of highschool named Rosa Parks in france

[@nojam75]

Wow, I'm really touched that they would name a Paris station after Rosa Parks. "We wanted at least 50% female names. There has been much debate, especially with RATP, which favors existing place names, but for Rosa Parks there was a consensus: this is necessary for a tram station, it is a strong symbol" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa-Parks_station

[@LadyLexyStarwatcher]

@@nojam75 That is cool! It is like how we have an Anne Frank monument here in Idaho. Apparently only one in the USA.

[@irgendwer1409]

@@LadyLexyStarwatcher thats awesome!

[@ixlnxs]

You ain't seen nothing yet. From Rosa Parks you can take a tram which calls at Ella Fitzgerald, Colette Besson, Delphine Seyrig, Adrienne Bolland and Marie de Miribel - all of them tram stops named after women (or rather: named after nearby streets named after these women). On other tram lines there are stations named after (streets named after) Alexandra David-Néel, Maryse Bastié, Suzanne Lenglen and Jacqueline Auriol.

[@pancitw]

babe wake up, new tim traveller video

[@marcel1372]

these buildings look crazy i got a tingle of surprise when you first panned up and it was just towers of zigs and zags

[@TheNgandrew]

Great video. Really interesting. Those talented local artists eh?

[@cabe_bedlam]

I always enjoy the pun piano music covers.

[@greenbriar07]

Thanks for taking us along on these mini-tours around the neighborhood :)

[@chriskrebill1842]

This is so neat! Ever since I heard about New York's High-line, I thought it would be neat if these cities put in miniature railways along the bike/walking paths. This would give people another attraction along the path and also you could have pub crawl trains and stuff like that recognizing and celebrating the railway history of it. Very neat!

[@jeankelly2011]

Même les vidéos les plus banales comme celui-ci sont très intéressant quand tu les présentes. Je ne me lasse jamais.

[@cw_uk]

the music at the end.... ahhhhh the sound of TV in the 90's.... used to watch Wish you were here sat on my mothers knee lol :D

[@ericmosher6969]

thamks

[@GreatGloves]

Greetings from Finland! Merry Xmas to you👍

[@heybagley]

1:05 Love the architecture of these tall buildings in the "banlieue", I guess.

[@invock]

Not exactly banlieue, this is close from the suburbs but still "intra-muros" (meaning "inside the walls", even though said walls have almost entirely disappeared nowadays).

[@KingRCT3]

Le Ferrovipathe is a great channel, nice shootout!

[@AnnabelSmyth]

Except he's gone to university and isn't active any more, which is a great pity.

[@KingRCT3]

@@AnnabelSmyth Aww, bummer :(

[@AnnabelSmyth]

@@KingRCT3 I expect he'll come back when he has more time and when lockdown is over. Hope so, anyway.

[@Cycliberte]

He’ll come back next summer if everything goes well

[@guyr.6053]

Great video, Tim! If you ever come to Tel Aviv, a new linear park along an old railway line to Jerusalem has just opened, and you can also visit its' counterpart at the other end in Jerusalem :)

[@pwhitewick]

....well how did I miss this video!....

[@AJUEA]

Yes! A new video. Thanks Tim.

[@TravellerYT]

Very interesting videos and your narration is very good! Greetings from Copenhagen, Denmark - Maxi and Maro :-D

[@reuben8140]

1:06 I'd like to see more tower blocks with funky designs like this, much better to look at. Are these new builds or retrofitted with cladding?

[@TheTimTraveller]

Pretty sure they were designed like that. Not sure exactly when they date from - I'd guess 80s/90s, but maybe someone who knows better than me will come along and let us know

[@stekikun6854]

@@TheTimTraveller The whole 'Cité Michelet', as it is called, was built in the very late 60's. If you want to see some more... audacious ^^ architecture, the so-called "Orgues des Flandres" buildings are just nearby, next to the Crimée station. Cheers!

[@Aeyekay0]

Nice, now I want to check out the jazz bar is I ever make it to Paris

[@nathanwulf]

Last time i went abroad was to paris a year ago - as there were transport strikes on i spent a day following bits of the P.C route........maybe once we can travel again Ill check out that new bit! (Loved the shot of those white block apartments)

[@ThePixel1983]

Hey, I cycled under the bridge across the Bassin de la Villette yesterday and thought of this video! Some parisians already seem to... have opened the bridge. Totally legally, for sure.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

A piece of Paris people do not know about. If I ever visit France, I must walk this

[@iaw7406]

You would probably snap the rails

[@O-P-96]

Good video. Also, the sister line of "La Petite Ceinture", known as "La Grande Ceinture" (which you mentioned in a previous video) is also slowly being reopened for a tram-train, for at least 3 different lines.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Ah cool! Well I guess I won't be running out of Paris video ideas any time soon...

[@equilat]

The big difference between "La Petite Ceinture" and "La Grande Ceinture" is the second is still mostly opened for rail traffic (a lot of freight trains, RER C and a few TGVs depending sections). However, a part of the western section, which was effectively disused is beeing partially reopened for a Tram-Train (T13). So no greenway there :p

[@Gautier-cw9bu]

@@equilat the northern section is also part of the T11 (although I think it uses separate rails) and the southern part used by the RER c will be partially integrated in the T12

[@jocelynhurtubise2420]

intéressant Merci!

[@barvdw]

That's a pretty interesting area. A couple of years ago, I won tickets to a concert of the Brussels Philharmonic in La Vilette's Cité de la Musique. I quite liked wandering around there, and have been back since for more concerts. If you ever need a guide for Brussels, I just so happen to have the right friend for that, and would happily trundle along :-)

[@manfredpseudowengorz]

the graffiti on the top left part of the jazz club wall - wow.

[@AnnabelSmyth]

Paris comes out of heavy restrictions just as London goes into them.... sigh.... thanks for this; the PC always fascinated me when I lived in Paris in the 1970s - never quite understood why it was closed.

[@freewal]

Political reasons. Bad reasons. There is an association to protect it and they push for an alternate transportation project which has 0% of chance to be realised with the current majority in Paris. They have a KZbin channel if you are interested.

[@unlapras9365]

I litteraly went there last week ! 😅

[@TravelSignal]

You really should do a bilingual collab with Le Ferrovipath...

[@timm9631]

Love your videos! Stay safe!

[@growingup15]

"Brand new Section" "Graffiti everywhere" XD

[@MisterMotel]

2:01 that hurts :( I miss Paris, go there every year.

[@Leebpascal1]

1:48 I think you mixed up the canal de l'ourcq which the petite ceinture pass over, and the bassin de la villette, wich is hundreds of meters more southern, after the Pont de Crimée

[@TheTimTraveller]

Hmm... yes, I think you are correct! It's strange because I am sure I have heard people refer to this short section of the canal de l'ourcq - between the bassin de la villette, and the junction with the canal saint denis - as the "canal de la villette". But I guess they were wrong

[@Leebpascal1]

@@TheTimTraveller I'm hearing it sometimes. The only "official" use I found is for the holiday inn express - canal de la villette, just near the lift bridge

[@TheTimTraveller]

@@Leebpascal1 ahhh that's probably where I got it from! I walk past that quite often

[@VedranRodic433]

I hope you go back to traveling i have watched many of your videos and i really like them.

[@pgchase4578043026]

I note the opening (6th July 2022) of Paris' Tram-Train T13 which in part uses renewed tracks of the former Grande Ceinture Ouest railway line with left-hand (railway network) running and also some right-hand street running. I would be interested in how they do the switchover between the two sections. This reminds me both of your video of the ill-fated metro in Charleroi, Belgium and your video on the Grande Ceinture Ouest railway line. Maybe you would like to investigate this new line.

[@nitt3rz]

I like how the Paris Metro has simply numbered their lines, instead of giving them odd names like the London Underground.

[@nekrosoft13]

"daily permitted exercise" sounds like fun....

[@northeastoutrider2124]

Seems like a nice copy of the highline in New York City. Quite a nice attraction. Interesting choice of names as well.

[@HenrysAdventures]

I'm going to need a weekend in Paris, just to walk abandoned railways, not exactly romantic but fun!

[@MrGreatplum]

I’m a simple man, I see a Tim Traveller notification pop up and I stop what I’m doing to watch a video about a footpath on an old railway line in Paris! Great stuff!

[@georgobergfell]

The B1M is a truely fantastic channel!

[@TechnoViel]

I think this was quite a proper video actually - except for the missing cheerful "Hello!" at the beginning 😉

[@cownenl252]

What about the grand ceinture? Some parts of it are abandoned!

[@janetchristian]

The fact that they have a Rosa Parks station is just as fascinating as the disused station.

[@carolynkayhanson2524]

Well gosh, Tim, one of my favorite things about your videos is the way you always say, "Hello!" at the beginning. And you didn't this time. And I missed it. Just sayin' :) A good video tho, as always, and I hope you are well.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Don't worry, it'll be back! When there isn't a hello at the beginning, it just means it's going to be a little bonus video instead of a normal one. I like to lower expectations right from the start :)

[@PineappleSkip]

I too was alarmed at no trademark Heellloooooo, and first wondered if an impostor from Mr Plod had hijacked your channel 🤨. You could always do a sotto voce Helloo for a bonus.

[@unlapras9365]

Unfortunately the section between Pont de Flandre and Buttes Chaumont will probably not be open to the public in a foreseeable future due to the bad state of the infrastructure which would need expensive upgrade works to meet safety requirements. However, there is a project to extend tram line T8 to Rosa Parks and then use the eastern part of the Petite Ceinture and end up at Buttes Chaumont or even Porte de Vincennes. However, this will probably not happen before 2035.

[@ixlnxs]

While you are at it, could you do some videos on suburbs which are worth a visit? I plan on going to places like Sèvres, Saint Cloud and Boulogne-Billancourt for the Porcelain museum, another museum and a fancy garden, but I'm sure you have encountered endearing places in unlikely communes like Issy, Créteil, Saint-Ouen or Bobigny?

[@freewal]

Hahaha you are comparing poach areas with more middle or popular ones.

[@ixlnxs]

@@freewal Yes I am. I have found very beautiful things in unlikely places before.

[@camelopardalis84]

I've been to Paris at least three or four times - and possibly way more often than that - as a child and teenager. (It was a close enough and inexpensive enough travel destination.) I would love to see videos of you walking around all over the city, filming what you're seeing (minus the faces or other identifiable features of people whose explicit consent to be shown on youtube you don't have), just to find out how much of the city I recognize from all those years ago. Could also work with a bike ride and you wearing a non-distracting camera on your forehead. (Yes, I care very much about other people's privacy and safety.)

[@Sim0nTrains]

Brilliant update of the Petite Ceinture, it is a shame your in a lockdown at the moment but really love how disused Pont De Flandre is. 👍

[@akmalkausaralhafiz798]

What about the NYC South fourth Street station

[@Jasonwolf1495]

Good on France for acknowledging the value of weedy plants. They may not be what people want, but its not all about us.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Indeed - and this is the perfect place to do it as well. I imagine there might be more of a fuss if they did it on the Champs Elysees

[@TheZapan99]

In reality, public gardening services all around France have stopped working since last spring, and are currently paid to do nothing. Weeds were so high at the end of summer, they actually caused traffic accidents by hiding crossing vehicles.

[@Hepad_]

@@TheZapan99 never understood why we value weeds less than say, grass. Some are edible, some smell good, some look good.

[@mig25foxbat]

Tim, I love your content but that place looks like somewhere Inspector Frost would be called to for a respectful yet droll exchange with a bow-tie/PPE wearing doctor

[@cpfodarkvader]

Yeah, taht entire area in the north of Paris is rough, it's near the "worst" parts of the suburbs around Paris when it comes to poverty rates, the spot where he start the video used to be filled with tents or weird shacks made out of anything they could find when I was working there 2 years ago, I guess either covid made them go away or the city got rid of them ? It was pretty sad to have to walk through there every day, and realize that even if I had a minimum salary job with insane hours because of commute time, I wasn't in the worst situation either.

[@KriegerDelfin24]

I looked at it on Google Maps and was surprised how Long it is both ways. Would be a perfekt Line Over the earth to Bad its closed.

[@mizu_the_floatzel]

This sound like Toronto doing it expansions

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

So cute 2020

[@kentakahashi9635]

The circle of life

[@retrogameon]

What goes down at Noisy Champs?

[@unlapras9365]

They are building a new interchange station between line A and line 15 and 16 of the Grand Paris Express !

[@retrogameon]

@@unlapras9365 cool!

[@keithphilbin3054]

Noisy Champs sounds like a porn star name.

[@HB-bl5mn]

Hey Tim-Traveller. I am enjoying your clips a lot. Should you be near Vienna again one day, you probably would enjoy the Mariazellerbahn, the Aspangbahn and also Park Laxenburg with its many interesting details and vanished attractions. Also Kaiserbahnhof Laxenburg. Check it out.

[@untruelie2640]

I have a question: Since you live in France, do you watch ARTE sometimes? What do you think of the channel? :)

[@tacoli7056]

🙋

[@cesarsantis5116]

You think this is lame, but I love this kind of weird tourism where the fun is to getting lost in the city.

[@RM-bv1xm]

London: We're builiding a cool new metro called Crossrail Paris: *Casually builds four new lines like a boss*

[@Gautier-cw9bu]

Moreover, the idea behind crossrail is basically the same as the one behind the RER (connecting two existing services by a new tunnel under the city), and paris did it in the 60s and 70s

[@ZGryphon]

Why does the Paris Métro, of all things, have a station named after Rosa Parks? I mean, I don't _object,_ but it seems kind of incongruous. Like the New York subway having a stop named after Alfred Dreyfus.