bjk0908

I've arranged an August house swap with a family who live outside of Paris in Ponthierry. That means I'll take the RER D2 train to and from the city daily. Does anyone have experience riding that train at night, and should I have any particular safety concerns? Would it be safer to take a night bus and sit close to the driver? I don't expect to be out past midnight, but it may be after dark, and situations always do seem to be a bit scarier after dark, don't they?

I've ridden the metro and buses many times in the past without incident, but not so much at night, and usually only within the city. As a solo woman traveler, I try to take the extra precaution when I can. Thoughts?

Christina

well, I might worry more about what happens after you leave the station, are you walking home in the dark for a long time in a bad area? However, it is true there are some problems on that line, probably more than others, from what I've read. Some thieves and gangs, there was a terrible incident earlier this year with a gang of 20 robbing passengers on that train at Grigny which is on line D4. They have supposedly stepped up police presence on that line since then, but I have no recent experience with it so can't help on that. It isn't really quite as safe as within Paris, I don't think, but don't know what to tell you, but I wouldn't be complacent about it.

I assume you read French, this is the incident I'm talking about http://www.leparisien.fr/essonne-91/...13-2674991.php

MaineGG

And if you don't read French, here's a report in English:

http://www.thelocal.fr/20130320/poli...-train-robbery

kerouac

The RER D is considered to be the most "dangerous" line in northern Paris. This doesn't mean that it is really dangerous, but it has had more incidents than any of the other lines. Anyway, after the recent incidents where all of the perps were arrested, there should be nothing to worry about for a while. These people might finally realize that they are under total video surveillance on the trains and in the stations, so they can't get away with anything.