- Jean-Baptiste Berlier
Jean-Baptiste Berlier was a French
engineer andinventor who was responsible for thePneumatic tube postal system ofParis , which operated until as late as 1984.Berlier was also the promoter of various ideas for a
tramway which would have been built using similartunnelling technology as the "tube railway s" ofLondon . Though these were never realised, Berlier was heavily involved with theParis Metro from its opening in 1900 and indeed was one of the key instigators of theSociété du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris (link only currently available in French version Wikipedia [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_du_chemin_de_fer_%C3%A9lectrique_souterrain_Nord-Sud_de_Paris] ) which went on to build two privately-funded lines that were later absorbed by theCompagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris , and are still in use today as (parts of)Paris Métro Line 12 andParis Métro Line 13 .There is a Parisian street named after him in the
XIIIe arrondissement . TheRue Jean-Baptiste-Berlier (link only currently available in French version Wikipedia [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Jean-Baptiste-Berlier] ).References
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