Orly Airport is the primary airport for domestic flights between Paris and other cities in France. During the 1980s, the only transportation options to the airport were by road. Bus routes to the airport were often crowded and traffic jams were frequent. Several projects were suggested: an extension of
Paris Métro Line 7, an additional branch of the
RER B, and an extension of the
RER C. Ultimately, in December 1987, authorities opted for the construction of a shuttle line from the airport to Antony station on the RER B line using the
Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL) technology developed by
Matra for the
Lille Metro which opened in 1983. The project was seen (and criticized) as a showcase project for Matra who was hoping to sell VAL systems to cities across the world. The government of
Jacques Chirac was skeptical about financing the shuttle line and instead offered up a
concession: the right for a private company to operate the shuttle line on the airport grounds. A consortium was formed to build the line, consisting of the domestic airline
Air Inter (26.7% share), builder Lyonnaise des Eaux-Dumez (18% share), VAL manufacturer Matra (17.3% share), and public transport operator RATP (3.3% share). The other 34.7% of the consortium was owned by several banks including
Caisse des Dépôts,
Crédit Lyonnais, and Indosuez. With daily ridership forecasted at over 14,000 passengers, the banks helped the group secure loans worth 1.55 billion
french francs (about €21.65 million). The Orlyval opened on 2 October 1991, about three months ahead of schedule. Almost immediately, ridership was lower than expected. Blame was placed on the premium fare, 55 francs (about €8), and the transfer between VAL and RER trains at Antony station. Daily ridership was around 4,500, only a third of the predicted traffic. After a few months of operation, fares were reduced, but ridership remained low. In the first full year of operation, the line only served 1.2 million travelers, instead of the 4.3 million initially forecasted. In December 1992, the line was put into compulsory liquidation. Operation of the line was taken over by RATP, who would receive an operating subsidy of ten million francs per year until the end of 2021, paid by the
Île-de-France region. The settlement also included the requirement that until the end of 2021, a portion of each fare should go to repaying creditors, expected to return about 67% of their original investment. Because of this agreement, fares on the line remained higher than other forms of transportation in the region. As of the end of 2016, the line generated about 10.5 million euros in fares per year. Ridership increased after the RATP took over operation of the line. The RATP carried out a study of riders in early 1994 and learned the clientele mostly consisted of businessmen traveling between the city and the airport for professional reasons. As a result of the study, in June 1994, RATP increased operating hours of the Orlyval to enable connections to the first and last domestic flights. Since the 2000s, traffic has experienced an annual increase of 8 to 10%. Ridership for the year 2013 amounted to 3.1 million trips. In June 2024,
Paris Metro line 14 was extended to Orly Airport with the opening of
Aéroport d'Orly station, shortly before the start of the
2024 Summer Olympics and
2024 Summer Paralympics. This offered a faster and cheaper route to central Paris without needing to change trains. By October 2024, ridership on Orlyval and Orlybus had fallen by around 70%. ==Stations==