MF 67: electric multiple unit train for the Paris Métro

MF 67

The MF 67 is a fleet of steel-wheel electric multiple unit trains for the Paris Métro. The first MF 67 trains entered service on Line 3 in June 1968, and became one of the biggest orders for the Métro, with 1,482 cars constructed.

The need to replace the Sprague-Thomson fleet, as well as increasing costs associated with the later-cancelled plan to introduce rubber-tyred trains on all Métro lines, were the main factors for the size of the order.

At its peak, during the late-1980s and the early-1990s, the MF 67 operated on eight of the (then) fifteen Métro lines (Lines 2, 3 and 3bis, 5, 7bis, 9, 10 and 12): the MF 67 also operated on Lines 7, 8 and 13 (including the old Line 14), all before the introduction of the MF 77 in 1978.

Many of the MF 67 trains have been removed from service: throughout 1994, the MF 88 displaced the MF 67 from Line 7bis, and from 2008 to 2016, the MF 01 replaced the MF 67 on Lines 2, 5, and 9. The MF 67 remains in service on Lines 3, 3bis, 10 and 12, where the Île-de-France Mobilités intends to replace the remaining MF 67 trains with new trains provisionally known as the MF 19.

It was originally envisioned by the RATP to convert all Metro lines to rubber-tyred pneumatic operation. However, this plan was later abandoned due to high costs, which in turn, would have prolonged the service of the aging Sprague-Thomson trainsets to 80 years. Therefore, a new class of steel-wheel rolling stock was developed. During the development phase, the MF 67 was known as the MF 65.

It’s successor is MF 01.

Manufacturer: Brissonneau et Lotz / CIMT

Years of production: 1967—1978

Production: 363

Track gauge: 1435 mm

Capacity: 425 passengers

Max speed: 80 km/h

Continuous power: 1 080 kW

Read more: History of railways with Alex Meltos ...