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My journey will be (to/fro) Republique Metro Station to Bobigny/Pablo Picasso Metro Station. The vianavigo.com (is it official? looks like) lists the journey as single line, and cost one ticket (EUR 1.90), search link .Google Maps too lists the same route & price (EUR 1.90)

From 2016 March & 2017 January's earlier visits, I have few left over unused tickets from pack of 10 for about EUR ~14, each EUR 1.45, having words TICKET optile RATP carnet BUS T M RER dans Paris stif EUR 1,45 ESP.

Some other websites from google search list that these carnet tickets are valid only for zone-01; but these websites have stale date (2012-2016).

What is the fresh status? Can I use these Carnet Tickets to travel from Zone 01 Republic to Zone 02 Bibogny, Metro 5? Personal references/experiences are also fine.

The same single ticket now is listed for EUR 1.90 at ratp.fr Are my unused tickets from 2016 March & 2017 January still valid?

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    I had a similar experience between 2014-2015. I was a resident of France then. The ticket prices had changed and I had an old stack with me. I was able to change these tickets for no extra price (I had 5-6 tickets) at an RER station. I think it will depend on who is at the window and how crowded the window is and your general grasp of French. The vianavigo website is legit.
    – dearN
    Nov 11, 2017 at 14:21
  • I find that metro tickets stop working when they have been in your purse a while and that seems to get worse. I had changed my older tickets for new ones and still only one out of three worked. But the man in the ticket office was willing and happy to exchange them.
    – Willeke
    Nov 11, 2017 at 18:14

1 Answer 1

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As long as the ticket says “ticket t+”, it's valid. (Official source: RATP FAQ — I can't find an official English translation, but that's what the French says.) It doesn't matter how much you paid for it, only that it's a ticket for the right kind of transportation. Buying a carnet of 10 tickets is cheaper than buying 10 individual tickets separately, but they're the same tickets, valid for exactly the same things.

Older metro tickets (sold before 2003) are officially no longer valid, although for all I know their magnetic stripe still works in the gates (but if you get inspected, you can be fined).

There is no expiration date for Paris suburban train tickets either. As far as I know, for a suburban train ticket, as long as it's the right physical format with a magnetic stripe, it's still valid. Most other train tickets in France do expire.

Regarding zones, they're irrelevant for travel in the metro. With a ticket t+, you can make any metro trip, the ticket remains valid as long as you don't exit the metro. There's a 2-hour limit, which is sufficient to reach any station from any other station (if you want to joyride, get a day pass).

Zones are only relevant for suburban trains, including the RER. A ticket t+ is valid on the RER as well (you need to put your tickets through the gate when changing between metro and RER), but only inside zone 1, which is the Paris municipality. This means that for example you can go from Paris to La Défense with a ticket t+ using metro line 1, but if you want to take RER A then you need a point-to-point ticket because La Défense is outside the Paris city limits.

Incidentally, a ticket t+ is also valid for a bus trip, but you can't combine rail and road in the same trip. Tramways count as road: you can do a bus+tram trip with a ticket t+. Ticket t+ is valid on most buses in the Paris region, but not on a few long-distance buses, notably the airport buses.

Via Navigo is an official site of the authority that manages transportation passes in the Paris region. It's giving you the price for a single ticket. If you dig through and you speak French you can find the price of a carnet of 10 tickets there as well.

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