Paris – A Technical fault coupled with a boosted summer timetable forced the overnight evacuation of hundreds of passengers from the Paris Metro, City Transport Authority RATP said on Wednesday.

A train on the metro’s Line 1 broke down between stations, and safety systems on the automated driverless line then stopped the train behind it, the RATP said.

In total, 12 trains carrying hundreds of passengers ended up stuck in tunnels between stations, leading to an evacuation operation that lasted about two and a half hours.

Buzzfeed France reporter Assma Maad posted videos on Twitter of passengers on her train debating whether to jump down onto the tracks and then making their way through dark tunnels alongside.

Several passengers complained that they had not got adequate information from the RATP while stuck in hot carriages.

Ventilation systems on some of the trains were stopped because the electric current was cut off when passengers pulled the alarm signals, the authority explained.

Emergency services looked after five passengers.

The RATP described the incident as “extremely rare.’’

Trains were running every 90 seconds on the line a very high rate for any metro system to compensate for the closure of the parallel suburban RER A line for summertime works, it said.

The line, which serves tourist hotspots such as the Louvre museum and the Champs-Elysees, came back into operation on Wednesday. (dpa/NAN)