With just under a year to go before the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, campaigners are worried would-be spectators using wheelchairs could feel left out of the Games as only a small number of metro stations are accessible without using stairs.
With Paris streets often clogged by traffic, travelling underground is often much quicker but only 9% of metro stations can be accessed without walking up and down steps.
"Today, going around Paris in a wheelchair is difficult, bumpy and sometimes just impossible", said Franck Maille, 52, from campaign group APF France handicap, who has been in a wheelchair for most of his life due to a neuromuscular disease. A metro ride from the historic Alexander III bridge, where triathlon swimming is due to take place, to the northern Porte de la Chapelle, hosting basketball and rhythmic gymnastics, takes 35 minutes.
Wheelchair users, however, would need to travel by bus as both metro stations have stairs and no lifts, a test ride carried out by Maille, who was accompanied by a Reuters journalist, showed. This would take them more than twice as long, not including the time needed to change buses, the test showed.
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