You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (September 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the French article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:MF 88]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|MF 88}} to the talk page.
The MF 88 (French: Métro Fer appel d'offres de 1988; English: Steel-wheeled metro ordered in 1988) is a steel-wheel variant of electric multiple units used on Paris's Métro system. RATP contracted a consortium of manufacturers, with Ateliers du Nord de la France in charge of the project.
They were built following successful tests of a prototype train-set called the "BOA", derived from the MF 77, which tested new features such as open gangway connections between cars to improve passenger distribution and special bogies to reduce friction caused by the sharp curves found in the Métro network. The MF 88 introduced a number of innovations in its time, including AC induction motors and an on-board computer system using a new standard integrated computing architecture.[2][3] It is planned for the MF 19 rolling stock to replace the MF 88 in 2025.[4]
Design
Carrying on the features of the BOA,[5] a total of nine MF 88 train-sets were built, which have only ever operated on Line 7bis in a three-car formation. It was the first model with AC motors, supplied by GEC Alsthom,[5] as opposed to DC and with interconnecting gangways.[6][5] The MF 88 was also the first to adopt a new computing architecture, developed by TechnicAtome, over relay-based systems used in older Paris Metro rolling stock.[2][3] It also introduced an independent-wheeled steering axle design,[5] but this turned out to cause several problems for RATP and was not adopted in subsequent Paris Metro rolling stock.[6]
It was also the last model not newly built with automatic announcements and with user-activated doors (all subsequent models, as well as more recently the MF 77s on Line 13, have had all doors open at once). The high rate of wear-and-tear of the train-sets has made maintenance much more expensive than expected. The independent-wheeled steering axle design was found to be problematic and was causing excessive wear on the track.[1] This is because of the design flaw in the chassis, each intermediate bogie only has one axle, similar to a typical car, bus, some rubber-tyred trains (although the rubber-tyred lines of the Paris Métro use the typical 2-axle bogies), or certain railbuses, but unusual for a more “standard” railcar, especially one powered by electricity.[7]
^ abcdeGaston, Jacobs (2001). Le métro de Paris : Un siècle de matériel roulant. La Vie du Rail. p. 167-170. ISBN9782902808977.
^ abBancelin, J; Bordenave, H (10 July 1990). "Test and Development Bench for an In-Borne Computing Architecture". Control, Computers, Communications in Transportation. p. 15-18. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-037025-5.50008-6. ISBN978-0-08-037025-5.
^ abBoullie, JB; Brun, M (6 August 2002). "A new rolling stock architecture using safety computers and networks". Proceeding International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks. DSN 2000. pp. 157–162. doi:10.1109/ICDSN.2000.857529. ISBN0-7695-0707-7.
