RATP (Paris) 8618 - 30 Apr 1992

Thursday 30 April 1992 (approx. 1400) – RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) 8618, a Saviem SC10, seen in Rue Baudin in the northern Paris suburb of Levallois Perret when working service 165 from Asnieres to Porte de Champerret to where we travelled on this bus.

All around the Paris outer ring are the ‘Portes’, the names stemming from the old city gateways taking their names of the distant provincial town to which the roads out of Paris led. Porte de Champerret featured a triangular bus interchange served by suburban services 163, 164 and 165 together with city services 84 and 92 plus service ‘PC’ (Petit Ceinture – the inner circle) which, although now split into sections, once ran as a complete circular around the perimeter of the city area. The bus stop reads ‘Place du 11 Novembre’ which is the square behind the bus.

RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) buses did not carry registration numbers in the normal way, the fleet number was carried as a registration number.