Which metro system was the first to use rubber tires?

The Paris Métro was the first metro system to use rubber tires. The technology was developed in postwar France by Michelin, working with Renault, to improve traction, acceleration, braking, and hill-climbing on metro routes.

The first experimental rubber-tired vehicle, the MP 51, began testing in 1951 on a track between Porte des Lilas and Pré Saint-Gervais. Paris then converted Line 11, which had steep grades, beginning in 1956. Lines 1, 4, and 6 were converted later, while Line 14 was built as a rubber-tired line from its opening in 1998.

Rubber-tired trains do not simply replace every rail wheel with a car tire. They use rubber tires running on rollways, alongside conventional steel wheels and rails. The steel equipment helps with guidance, switching, electrical return, and emergency support.

Montreal is often confused with Paris because the Montreal Metro was the first completely rubber-tired metro system, opening in 1966. Paris nevertheless deserves the answer to this wording because it pioneered the technology’s first metro application.