Par
Thomas Rideau
Published on Nov. 27, 2025 at 6:04 a.m.
Is the treadmill of Châtelet working? It becomes so ubiquitous what of facetious Internet users have taken up the subject: the moving sidewalks at Châtelet station, in Paris, have been broken down for more than two months, this Thursday, November 26, 2025. The almost 750,000 daily travelers have to drag their suitcases between the RER station and the metro lines. And the situation not likely to get better right away.
“It’s very disabling”
The breakdown moving walkways in Châteletit’s ancient history. “In fact, we know neither the origin of the problem nor the remedy,” summarizes Michel Babut of the FNAUT (National Federation of Transport User Associations) at Paris news. Numerous maintenance works have also been carried out. But the problems seem deeper. “No one can find the real cause. » The current “breakdown” dates from September 2025. Note that the moving sidewalks were nevertheless under maintenance during the month of August.
“It’s very disabling,” breathes the vice-president of FNAUT Île-de-France. “Especially since it’s all three treadmills at the same time. The restoration of order is excessively slow,” he says.
To kill time, a X account (formerly Twitter) decided to laugh at the situation. It’s called Has the carpet of Châtelet worked and already has nearly a thousand subscribers. He also experienced a small jump when he showed that the work time was going to be extended by a short month.
On the RATP side, we laugh less and we talk about “exceptions” without qualifying the cause. “Following anomalies noted on mechanical parts of the Châtelet moving walkways, the RATP has proceeded – as a safety measure – to shut them down since October 2,” indicates the management to Paris news.
As indicated by the FNAUT, assessments are indeed underway on the side of the RATP and the manufacturer to “analyze” ces anomalies. The conclusions were expected by mid-November – and should therefore not take longer? “As a result, an action plan will be put in place to allow moving sidewalks to be put back into service in complete safety and as quickly as possible,” assures RATP, which “apologizes for the inconvenience caused by this unavailability.”
“Is it that complicated in France to have functional moving sidewalks? It is still essential for accessibility gigantic stations of the Paris metropolitan area, and for the able-bodied, save precious minutes of travel time,” finally asks an RATP user on the Reddit forum.
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