Paris: the Marx Dormoy metro station under renovation unveils remnants from the 1960’s

Incredible but true! Travel back in time when riding the metro! The Paris metro line 12 Marx Dormoy station – currently under renovation – is exposed until September 30, 2022, and shows remnants from the 1960’s.

Une capsule temporelle en provenance des années 50, à Paris, station Marx Dormoy, en réfection sur la ligne 12. Visible dans son jus d'époque, avant carrossage. Quelques photos. (1/n) ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/rF7kIwJpzD

— Guillaume D. (@GDeleur) August 14, 2022

Tweet reads: “A time capsule from the 50’s in Paris, Marx Dormoy station, under refection on the line 12. Visible as it was then, before camber. A few pictures”.

On the platform of the Marx Dormoy station, towards the Gare d’Aubervilliers station, enjoy the remnants of a long-gone era: old ad posters, messaged to passengers, old metro maps and tiles… witnesses from the past. A piece of history made visible thanks to the RATP’s renovation that had to remove the “camber” covering the old walls of the station.

“In the 1950-1960’s, the RATP renovated stations with a cover system that consisted in placing a camber made of enamel sheet metal, from the platforms to about half the height of the vault. The operation began in 1952, at the Franklin-Roosevelt station (metro lines 1 and 9) and stops in 1967”, “La Grande Histoire du Métro Parisien” author Clive Lamming told Le Parisien.

In all, the walls of 73 Paris metro stations are covered. Today, this “masking” causes a lot of damage such as water ingress, hence the ongoing renovations.

Within metro ticket reach, discover this unusual “underground museum”, surprisingly well preserved!