Noctilien

Noctilien logo

Noctilien is the night bus service in Paris and its agglomeration. It is managed by the Syndicat des transports d'Île-de-France (STIF), the Île-de-France regional public transit authority, and operated by RATP and SNCF. It replaced the previous Noctambus service on the night of 20/21 September 2005, providing for a larger number of lines than before and claiming to be better adapted to night-time transport needs.

In place of the previous hub-and-spoke scheme where all buses terminated at and departed from Châtelet metro station, Noctilien's new service includes buses operating between banlieues (communes surrounding Paris proper) as well as outbound lines running from Paris' four main railway stations: Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse and Gare Saint-Lazare. In addition, these four stations are also connected to each other by a regular night bus service.

All in all, Noctilien operates 47 bus lines from the last bus of the night (00:30) until the first bus of the morning (05:30) over the whole of Paris and the Île-de-France region. It is made up of:

• 2 "circular" lines running between Paris' major train stations (N01 and N02),
• 6 "transversal" lines running between different banlieues via Châtelet,
• 19 "radial" lines managed by the RATP (2 digits lines) running from major Paris stations outward to the banlieues,
• 18 "radial" lines managed by the SNCF (3 digits lines, with the exception of N153 managed by the RATP) running from major Paris stations and
• 2 "banlieues" line (N71 and N135).

Like Transilien, the name "Noctilien" is formed by analogy with "Francilien" — the French demonym for residents of Île-de-France.

Noctilien lines

• N 01 - inner (clockwise) circle line: Gare de l'Est → Gare de Lyon → Gare Montparnasse → Gare Saint-Lazare → Gare de l'Est
• N 02 - outer (counterclockwise) circle line: Gare Montparnasse → Gare de Lyon → Gare de l'Est → Gare Saint-Lazare → Gare Montparnasse
• N 11 - Pont de Neuilly ↔ Château de Vincennes
• N 12 - Pont de Sèvres ↔ Romainville-Carnot
• N 13 - Mairie d'Issy ↔ Bobigny - Pablo Picasso
• N 14 - Mairie de Saint-Ouen ↔ Bourg-la-Reine RER
• N 15 - Gabriel Péri - Asnières - Gennevilliers ↔ Villejuif - Louis Aragon
• N 16 - Pont de Levallois — Bécon ↔ Mairie de Montreuil
• N 21 - Châtelet ↔ Chilly-Mazarin - Libération
• N 22 - Châtelet ↔ Juvisy-sur-Orge RER
• N 23 - Châtelet ↔ Chelles-Gournay RER
• N 24 - Châtelet ↔ Bezons - Grand Cerf
• N 31 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Orly Airport south terminal
• N 32 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Boissy-Saint-Léger RER
• N 33 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Villiers-sur-Marne - Le-Plessis-Trévise RER
• N 34 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Torcy RER
• N 35 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Nogent-le-Perreux RER
• N 41 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Villeparisis – Mitry-le-Neuf RER
• N 42 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Aulnay-sous-Bois - Garonor
• N 43 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Gare de Sarcelles-Saint-Brice
• N 44 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Garges-Sarcelles RER
• N 45 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Hôpital de Montfermeil
• N 51 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Gare d'Enghien
• N 52 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Gare d'Argenteuil RER
• N 53 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Nanterre - Université RER
• N 61 - Gare Montparnasse ↔ Hôtel de Ville de Vélizy-Villacoublay
• N 62 - Gare Montparnasse ↔ Robinson RER
• N 63 - Gare Montparnasse ↔ Massy-Palaiseau RER
• N 71 - Bourg-la-Reine RER ↔ Saint Maur - Créteil RER
• N 122 - Châtelet ↔ Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse
• N 130 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Gare de Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy
• N 131 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Brétigny-sur-Orge
• N 132 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Melun
• N 133 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Juvisy
• N 134 - Gare de Lyon ↔ Combs la Ville
• N 135 - Villeneuve Saint Georges ↔ Corbeil-Essonnes
• N 140 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Aéroport Roissy CDG Terminal 3
• N 141 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Gare de Meaux
• N 142 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Gare de Tournan
• N 143 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Aéroport Roissy CDG Terminal 3
• N 144 - Gare de l'Est ↔ Corbeil-Essonnes
• N 145 - Gare de l'Est ↔ La Verrière
• N 150 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Cergy Le Haut RER
• N 151 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Mantes-la-Jolie Gare
• N 152 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Cergy Le Haut RER
• N 153 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Gare RER de Saint Germain-en-Laye
• N 154 - Gare Saint-Lazare ↔ Gare de Montigny – Beauchamp

Line numbering scheme

Each bus line number starts with N for Noctilien followed by a two or three digit number:

• 2 digits starting with "N0" for the two "circular" routes
• 2 digits starting with "N1" for the "transversal" routes
• 2 digits starting with "N2" for buses running from "Châtelet"
• 2 digits starting with "N3" for buses running from "Gare de Lyon"
• 2 digits starting with "N4" for buses running from "Gare de l'Est"
• 2 digits starting with "N5" for buses running from "Gare Saint-Lazare"
• 2 digits starting with "N6" for buses running from "Gare Montparnasse"
• 3 digits starting with "N1" for the long distance buses running to the outer suburbs

These line numbers bear no relationship to the old Noctambus line numbers.

References

• This article draws heavily on the French Wikipedia page "Noctilien", downloaded 18 February 2006.

External links

• Official website