Paris's oldest and busiest underground railway line is to be given a multimillion-euro overhaul which local authorities hope will make it more stylish, streamlined and – crucially in a city regularly crippled by industrial action – more strike-proof than ever.
The central Line 1, which allows passengers to hop out at the Champs Elyseés, the Louvre, the Bastille and the falafel joints of the Marais district, is to be converted into a fully automatic service in which traditional train drivers will no longer be needed.