It replaced the previous Noctambus service on the night of 20/21 September 2005, providing for a larger number of lines than before and claiming to be better adapted to night-time transport needs.
In place of the previous hub-and-spoke scheme in which all buses terminated at and departed from the heart of Paris at Châtelet, Noctilien's new service includes buses operating between banlieues (the communes surrounding Paris proper) as well as outbound lines running from Paris' four main railway stations: Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse and Gare Saint-Lazare. In addition, these four stations are also connected to each other by a regular night bus service.
Noctilien operates 52 bus lines over the whole of Paris and the Île-de-France region from around 12:30 a.m. when the rail network and the regular daytime bus service ends, until around 05:30 the next morning when they resume service.[2]
It is made up of:
2 circular lines: N01 & N02 running between Paris' major train stations ;
6 transversal lines: from N11 to N16 running between different suburbs of Paris via its center at Châtelet ;
21 radial lines (the other 2 digits lines, except N71) running between major Paris stations and more or less its near suburbs ;
2 radial long distance lines: N122 & N153 (subcontracted by the RATP) running between Paris and its remote suburbs ;
19 radial long distance lines (the other 3 digits lines, except N135) running between Paris and its remote suburbs (with often a partly motorway route) and managed by the Transilien SNCF ;
Several Noctilien Buses at Paris-Gare de Lyon hub bus station (Rue de Bercy)
Like Transilien, the name "Noctilien" is formed by analogy with "Francilien" — the French demonym for residents of Île-de-France.
Noctilien lines
The time intervals indicated here may depend on the day of week since service is reinforced on Friday and Saturday nights and on days that precede bank holidays.
Each bus line number starts with for Noctilien followed by a two or three digit number:
2 digits starting with "N0" for the two "circular" routes
2 digits starting with "N1" for the "transversal" routes
2 digits starting with "N2" for buses running from Châtelet
2 digits starting with "N3" for buses running from Gare de Lyon
2 digits starting with "N4" for buses running from Gare de l'Est
2 digits starting with "N5" for buses running from Gare Saint-Lazare
2 digits starting with "N6" for buses running from Gare Montparnasse
3 digits starting with "N1" for the long distance buses running to the outer suburbs.
References
^Lambert, Bertrand (18 December 2017). "La galère des transports nocturnes" [The real hassle of night transports] (TV report). Parigo. Episode 13 (in French). YouTube. Event occurs from 01'30" to 01'37". France 3. Paris Île-de-France. Retrieved 27 February 2019. Magazine of the Paris France 3-TV editorial dedicated to mobility in the Île-de-France region.
