# MP 59
The **MP 59** (French: *matériel pneu*, appel d'offres 1959) was a series of rubber-tyred rolling stock built for the [Paris Métro](https://www.edgepedia.org/paris-metro), ordered in 1959 and in service from 30 May 1963 until 2024, first on lines 1 and 4 and finally on line 11.[1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) • [2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) The name follows RATP's convention of dating a train family to the year its order was placed: MP for *matériel pneu* (rubber-tyred stock, as opposed to MF, steel-wheeled stock) and 59 for 1959.[1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning of the name | MP = matériel pneu (rubber-tyred stock); 59 = year of order, 1959[1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) |
| First service | 30 May 1963 on line 1; line 4 followed on 3 October 1966[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) |
| Fleet size | 607 cars in total, forming 100 trains numbered 001 to 100[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) |
| Manufacturers | Alsthom, CEM, CIMT, and Jeumont-Schneider[3](https://metro-trains-database.fandom.com/wiki/MP_59_%28Paris_Metro%29) |
| Train formation | Six cars (M-N-A-AB-N-M) on lines 1 and 4; four cars (M-N-A-M) on line 11[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) |
| Withdrawal from line 4 | 21 December 2012, after 46 years of service[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) |
| Final retirement | Last commercial run on line 11 on 23 May 2024; RATP marks the official farewell as 12 June 2024[4](https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/ratp-le-mp59-plus-vieux-metro-parisien-fait-ses-adieux-au-reseau-23-05-2024-ELQPHW3YKFGYFDEKZUD63XJDCY.php) • [1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) |
| Preservation | Motor car M.3204, built 1967, kept at the RATP reserve at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges since September 2023[5](https://www.patrimoine-ferroviaire.fr/ratp-motrice-mp59-m-3204/) |
## Background and ordering
Line 11 was the first Paris line equipped with rubber-tyred trains, in November 1956, using the experimental MP 51 prototype and then the MP 55 production series; its difficult profile of steep gradients and sharp curves made it a suitable test bed.[1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) The MP 55 raised transport capacity on line 11 by 5.5 percent, and on the strength of that result the RATP decided in 1959 to convert lines 1 and 4, then the two busiest lines of the network, to rubber-tyred operation.[3](https://metro-trains-database.fandom.com/wiki/MP_59_%28Paris_Metro%29) • [2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9)
The MP 59 was ordered in two waves, in 1960 and 1974, and consisted of six-car trains with four motor cars, two of them without driving cabs.[6](https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/medias/portail-idfm/56a55060-6340-49fc-94a6-0620686cb1e9_RAA_88_DOC_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf) In total 607 cars were built and employed on the two lines.[6](https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/medias/portail-idfm/56a55060-6340-49fc-94a6-0620686cb1e9_RAA_88_DOC_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf) The design derived directly from the MP 55 with only light modifications.[7](https://www.amutc.fr/pdf3/MET_Petite_Histoire_materiel_Metro.pdf)
## Service history
**Lines 1 and 4.** The first train entered service on line 1 on 30 May 1963, with deliveries running from May 1963 to December 1964; line 4 received its trains from October 1966 to July 1967, for a total of 92 trains, later reinforced by 8 more in 1974.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) Trains on lines 1 and 4 initially ran with five cars because not all stations had yet been extended to 90 meters, and were later formed of six cars.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) A special train, MP 59 DK, fitted with a Késar energy-recovery system, ran on lines 1 and 4 until 1985 before being converted back to a standard MP 59 D.[3](https://metro-trains-database.fandom.com/wiki/MP_59_%28Paris_Metro%29) In 1986, set 005 of line 1 was converted into the "Métro-Vidéo" for the RATP's TUBE experiment, testing the diffusion of advertising and information on cathode-ray screens both on platforms and inside trains.[8](https://www.techno-science.net/fr/definitions/mp-59)
**Transfers and line 4 withdrawal.** When the MP 89 arrived on line 1 between 1997 and 2000, most line 1 MP 59 trains were transferred to line 4, and some line 4 trains went to line 11, which allowed the retirement of the MP 55 in January 1999.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) From April 2011, line 4 progressively received the MP 89 trains displaced by the automation of line 1; the first MP 59 withdrawn was set 6049, and the last two, 6016 and 6021, left service on 21 December 2012 after 46 years of operation.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) From 2012 line 11 was the last line to operate the type.[4](https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/ratp-le-mp59-plus-vieux-metro-parisien-fait-ses-adieux-au-reseau-23-05-2024-ELQPHW3YKFGYFDEKZUD63XJDCY.php)
**Line 11 and retirement.** The line 11 trains, dating from 1967, ran in four-car formations.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) The last commercial run with passengers took place on 23 May 2024, ahead of the line's extension to Rosny-Bois-Perrier; RATP dates the official farewell of the final MP 59 train to 12 June 2024, on the eve of the extension's opening.[4](https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/ratp-le-mp59-plus-vieux-metro-parisien-fait-ses-adieux-au-reseau-23-05-2024-ELQPHW3YKFGYFDEKZUD63XJDCY.php) • [1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) The 20 line 11 shuttles were replaced by MP 14 trains financed by Île-de-France Mobilités, with 19 additional trains supplied to operate the extension.[1](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11) At retirement the MP 59 was described as the oldest rolling stock in the Paris Métro and, according to a RATP agent quoted by Le Parisien, the oldest trains still in circulation in Europe.[4](https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/ratp-le-mp59-plus-vieux-metro-parisien-fait-ses-adieux-au-reseau-23-05-2024-ELQPHW3YKFGYFDEKZUD63XJDCY.php)
## Technical characteristics
The MP 59 was powered at 750 V DC from a third rail, with a maximum speed of 70 km/h.[5](https://www.patrimoine-ferroviaire.fr/ratp-motrice-mp59-m-3204/) Each bogie carried four brake cylinders and two wooden brake shoes per wheel, applied to the safety wheels that run on the conventional rails; braking was rheostatic down to 10 km/h and electropneumatic below that.[7](https://www.amutc.fr/pdf3/MET_Petite_Histoire_materiel_Metro.pdf) Traction equipment used camshaft-controlled contactors with 26 active notches, driven by a JH servomotor.[9](https://ratp.histolab.fr/uploads/r/null/4/f/0/4f0320eb176653004ef0054c1e8fef50e109a577f5de546355ca935812314e82/FRAHRATP_PER001_197306_brochure.pdf) The trains carried automatic emergency stop devices, dead-man's vigilance control (VACMA), and a safety loop, but no fire detection or automatic extinguishing system.[10](https://www.bea-tt.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/RapportFinal_BEATT_2005_008_cle2cc3fb.pdf)
**Renovations.** In the early 1990s some trains received an interior refurbishment and the white livery used across the RATP fleet, replacing the original blue; the line 1 stock was renovated from 1989 to extend its life ahead of the 1992 extension to [La Défense](https://www.edgepedia.org/la-defense).[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9) • [11](https://metropolitor.fr/materiel/MP%2B59) In 2009 and 2010 the line 11 trains received new seat upholstery in [shades of violet](https://www.edgepedia.org/shades-of-violet), similar to that fitted to the renovated MF 77 trains of line 13.[2](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9)
## Influence and preservation
The MP 59 served as the design basis for the MR-63, the first generation of rubber-tyred rolling stock of the [Montreal Metro](https://www.edgepedia.org/montreal-metro), built by Canadian Vickers from 1965 and in service from the Métro's opening in 1966 until 2018.[12](https://www.transitfan.com/wiki/index.php?title=Canadian_Vickers_MR-63_%28Montreal_M%C3%A9tro%29)
One example survives: motor car M.3204, built in 1967, served successively on lines 4, 1, 4 again from 1997, and 11 from 2002 until June 2023. It was moved in September 2023 to the RATP heritage reserve at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and restored in early 2024 by the association SAUVABUS and the RATP in the blue-and-white livery applied to line 1 trains in the early 1990s.[5](https://www.patrimoine-ferroviaire.fr/ratp-motrice-mp59-m-3204/)
## References
1. [Ligne 11 : retour sur la modernisation du matériel roulant, RATP](https://www.ratp.fr/decouvrir/coulisses/modernisation-du-reseau/materiel-roulant-metro-ligne-11)
2. [Le MP59, Lignes-Transports](https://www.lignes-transports.site/articles/article.php?id=9)
3. [MP 59 (Paris Metro), Metro Trains Database Wiki](https://metro-trains-database.fandom.com/wiki/MP_59_%28Paris_Metro%29)
4. [RATP : le MP59, plus vieux métro parisien, fait ses adieux au réseau, Le Parisien (23 May 2024)](https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/ratp-le-mp59-plus-vieux-metro-parisien-fait-ses-adieux-au-reseau-23-05-2024-ELQPHW3YKFGYFDEKZUD63XJDCY.php)
5. [RATP motrice MP59 M-3204 – Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Patrimoine Ferroviaire Français](https://www.patrimoine-ferroviaire.fr/ratp-motrice-mp59-m-3204/)
6. [Matériel métro à roulement pneu, Île-de-France Mobilités](https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/medias/portail-idfm/56a55060-6340-49fc-94a6-0620686cb1e9_RAA_88_DOC_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf)
7. [Petite Histoire du matériel Métro sauvegardé, AMUTC](https://www.amutc.fr/pdf3/MET_Petite_Histoire_materiel_Metro.pdf)
8. [MP 59 – Définitions, Techno-Science](https://www.techno-science.net/fr/definitions/mp-59)
9. [Matériel sur pneumatiques type MP 59 (1963–1966), RATP historical archives brochure](https://ratp.histolab.fr/uploads/r/null/4/f/0/4f0320eb176653004ef0054c1e8fef50e109a577f5de546355ca935812314e82/FRAHRATP_PER001_197306_brochure.pdf)
10. [Rapport final BEA-TT 2005-008 (incendie de la station Simplon, ligne 4)](https://www.bea-tt.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/RapportFinal_BEATT_2005_008_cle2cc3fb.pdf)
11. [Le MP 59, Métropolitor](https://metropolitor.fr/materiel/MP%2B59)
12. [Canadian Vickers MR-63 (Montreal Métro), TransitfanWiki](https://www.transitfan.com/wiki/index.php?title=Canadian_Vickers_MR-63_%28Montreal_M%C3%A9tro%29)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Rail transport › Rail vehicles and rolling stock › Multiple units and railcars › Western and regional EMU fleets › Continental European metro fleets*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license