Life in London seems to have given me a peculiar interest in urban public transport systems. Combining it with my equally peculiar interest in the Olympic Games, earlier I was finding out about the Grand Paris Express project. And we thought Crossrail was ambitious: the Grand Paris Express seems to want to totally overhaul the Paris metro system, adding 200km of track and 68 new stations. Watching a few videos about it earlier though, a few thoughts and questions cropped up which could be worth posting here: Is it fair to say that it is an attempt to bring the Paris Metro system into line with other metropolitan tube systems? if so, what was it like before the Express project? How big was it compared to the London tube, and is it now bigger than the London underground? How wheelchair Accessible was it, and did it have a card system like London’s oyster card? How do the stations compare architecturally? I’ve never really explored Paris as I now do London. I can barely believe it has now been fifteen years since I visited the french capital with Charlie – it’s high time I went again. I’m curious to know whether I could use the metro as I now use the tube. And if this Express Project is an attempt to bring the metro up to scratch with other urban transport networks, what must it have been like before? Indeed, is this an example of the Olympics helping to spur on much needed urban redevelopment?