Haxo (Paris Métro)

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Where Haxo would appear on Paris Metro map if it were open and lines 3^bis and 7^bis merged into new line 15 (see Future)

Graffiti in Haxo station

Haxo

Haxo is a ghost station on the Paris Métro. It lies on an unused connecting chord between lines 3^bis and 7^bis. ^[1]

1 History
2 Future
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The station is situated on line which was constructed in the 1920s between Porte des Lilas (line 3^bis) and Pré Saint-Gervais (line 7^bis). A single track was built linking Place des Fêtes to Porte des Lilas, known as la voie des Fêtes, with one intermediate station, Haxo. For traffic in the other direction, another track was constructed linking Porte des Lilas to Pré Saint-Gervais, with no intermediate station, called la voie navette. Consequently, Haxo would have been a single-direction station with only one platform.^[2]

However, despite the network owners, the City of Paris, having delivered the necessary infrastructure, the railway operator, Chemin de Fer Métropolitain de Paris, did not consider a service to be sufficiently profitable.^[3]

Service trains have never called at Haxo, and no access to street level was ever constructed.^[4] Occasional special enthusiast trains call at Haxo for photography^[5], and the station was also used to demonstrate the MF 88 rolling stock to the press in 1993^[6] (the "1993" sign can be seen on some pictures, more than 10 years later).

[edit] Future

A study is being undertaken^[7] into the merger of Lines 3^bis and 7^bis, using the existing currently un-trafficked infrastructure between the two lines, and therefore finally opening Haxo for passenger use. The combined lines would be known as Line 15 from Château-Landon to Gambetta.

At the moment, the voie navette is blocked near Pré Saint-Gervais by an additional maintenance facility for the MF 88 rolling stock, due to their high failure rates. Therefore, the line merger would first require the MF 88 trains to be replaced by MF 67 units, which would be cascaded from other lines after the arrival of the MF 2000 equipment.