Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) announced on 23 September a sweeping transport plan to handle the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected in Paris for Pope Leo XIV on 25-26 September. Working with RATP and SNCF Transilien, the agency will increase capacity on RER lines B, C, D, H, J, L and U as well as every metro line except Line 3. Overall service will grow by roughly 10 %, aided by 1,300 extra staff—500 for passenger guidance and 800 for security tasks. To preserve crowd safety, the Préfecture de Police has ordered the closure of around 20 metro stations near ceremony sites around Notre-Dame and Parc de la Villette. Numerous bus routes will be curtailed or diverted. IDFM is pushing real-time information via its app and urging travellers to preload tickets and stagger departure times to avoid post-mass surges. For mobility managers, the weekend will resemble an Olympic-style event: downtown traffic restrictions, last-minute security cordons and very high hotel demand. Companies with Friday client meetings should advise employees to schedule calls remotely or book hotel rooms within walking distance of offices. Those flying into CDG or Orly may face longer transfer times as taxi and VTC access roads close intermittently. The operation showcases IDFM’s new crowd-modelling platform, developed for the 2024 Olympics and now deployed for large religious gatherings. Real-time passenger-flow dashboards will feed the regional crisis centre; lessons learned will inform future major-event playbooks useful to business-event organisers planning conferences in the capital. After the visit, the temporary 10 % uplift on certain RER lines may be retained for evening peaks if data confirm sustained demand, creating a small but welcome capacity gain for commuters in western and southern suburbs.
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