Fabrique du Métro: a page turns, a new scale opens

At the start of this new school and work year, we look back at a symbolic moment for the Grand Paris Express and for all those who helped make it visible before its arrival.

On June 13, the Fabrique du Métro opened its doors to the public one last time before its final closure in July 2026. On this occasion, over a hundred visitors were able to immerse themselves in virtual reality inside the future stations of the Grand Paris Express and discover places set to soon become part of the daily life of thousands of passengers.

This final opening alone sums up the mission of the Fabrique du Métro: to allow people to discover, understand, and take ownership of the Grand Paris Express even before its arrival. For 8 years, this venue welcomed nearly 120,000 visitors. It allowed for the full-scale testing of the metro's future equipment, presenting materials, atmospheres, passenger services, and the behind-the-scenes of an extraordinary construction project.

Its closure today marks a new stage. After being imagined, explained, represented, and explored in images, 3D models, and virtual reality, the Grand Paris Express is progressively anchoring itself in reality. With more than 200 km of automated metro, 68 stations, and 5 lines involved, including the extension of line 14 and the new lines 15, 16, 17, and 18, the project is changing scale for mobility in the Île-de-France region.

What visitors have long discovered through immersion into the future, notably through the 3D map, is becoming a territory that we will soon travel through. Stations are taking shape, lines will progressively open, and station neighborhoods are entering a new phase of transformation.

For Vectuel, this transition from projection to reality has a very special resonance. For over 10 years, our teams have been supporting the Grand Paris Express alongside the Société des grands projets, with a constant objective: to make the future stations, neighborhoods, and their transformations visible and understandable, long before they exist.

This support has been built over the long term, through complementary media: 3D images, films, digital models, immersive experiences, and mediation tools. They all address the same challenge: giving elected officials, project teams, partners, and the general public the means to project themselves into a major infrastructure.

The closure of the Fabrique du Métro does not end the story. It opens a new chapter. The Grand Paris Express is entering a phase where the represented projects become lived-in spaces, while the expertise developed around this major infrastructure continues to be deployed.

This dynamic now extends beyond the Île-de-France scale. The experience acquired by the Société des grands projets with the Grand Paris Express is part of a national ambition, notably through the Regional Metropolitan Express Services (SERM). In the summer of 2026, 29 SERM projects are already certified by the State, and the Société des grands projets indicates being involved in 19 of them.

From Greater Paris to French metropolises, the challenges remain similar: explaining complex projects, making transformations readable, and sharing a common vision of tomorrow's mobility. 3D, virtual reality, and digital twins make it possible to project in order to better understand, represent to better share, and make the city tangible before it exists.

A page is turning with the Fabrique du Métro. A new scale is now opening up.

Key figures:

• July 2026: final closure of the Fabrique du Métro.

• Nearly 120,000 visitors welcomed at the Fabrique du Métro in 8 years.

• More than 100 visitors immersed in virtual reality during the final public opening.

• More than 200 km of automated metro for the Grand Paris Express.

• 68 stations and 5 lines involved in the project.

• More than 10 years of support for the Grand Paris Express by Vectuel.

• 29 SERMs certified by the State, including 19 with the Société des grands projets as a stakeholder.

photo credit: Marie Genel