In 1884, the Council of State had classified the metropolitan as a railway of general interest, to be conceded directly by the State. Should the state favor private companies? The City protested vehemently, refusing to be stripped of its rights. She wanted her own metro, a metro that she could "be familiar with".
The conflict ended in 1895. On that date, Louis Barthou, Minister of Public Works, decided to classify the path metropolitan railway as a local interest railway, the execution of which would be entrusted to the City.
Two years later, a project was voted on by the municipal council:an underground network would be built comprising six lines, the total of which would reach 65 kilometres. A law declared this railway of public utility. All of the work was entrusted to a Breton engineer:Fulgence Bienvenüe.
Born in 1852 in Uzel, in the Côtes-du-Nord, the young Bienvenüe had graduated from Polytechnique in the Ponts et Chaussées . He had been noticed by his leaders still very young, during the construction of railways in Brittany. A work accident had deprived him of the use of one of his limbs:
My left arm was taken away, he said pleasantly.
After extensive work in various regions of France, he was commissioned to study the plans for the future metro, relying moreover on those of his predecessors. In 1896, he proposed a new project to the City which, after a few modifications, was approved the following year.
There was nothing left to do but move forward!