Your transport jingle will change in 2026
In transport, sound is an essential benchmark. It informs, reassures and helps to locate oneself, sometimes faster than a sign.
And the role of a sound identity is exactly that: a familiar signal that is immediately recognizable. A few notes that are enough to understand that we are on the same network and that important information is coming.
Île-de-France Mobilités' new sound identity: a simple, adaptable jingle designed to last
After a call for applications and a blind vote (or rather by ear), Île-de-France Mobilités, together with RATP and SNCF Voyageurs Transilien, entrusted the creation of the new sound identity to the sound production company Chez Jean, founded in 1996 by Jean Dindinaud.
The mission? Create a sound:
- Warm and gentle on travellers' ears
- Easily memorable and built to last
- Suitable for different venues (from noisy train stations to buses)
- Who calls out enough to give information, but without aggression
Six notes to accompany millions of daily trips
To respond to the mission entrusted by Île-de-France Mobilités, Arnaud Biscay, the composer, and Jean Dindinaud, director of the production studio, imagined a jingle in six notes and in three beats.
1. A first note: a crescendo with footsteps-like percussion to gently open the jingle with a sense of movement
2. A central melody of six notes : warm, joyful and memorable, played on piano, marimba and vibraphone
3. A final agreement: voluntarily open and suspended, which symbolizes continuous displacement and progress.
But why change the sound of public transport?
Until now, each operator, i.e. each company that manages the operation of the various transport lines (such as RATP or SNCF Voyageurs Transilien) broadcast its own sound identity. Result? Different sounds depending on the lines, stations or modes of transport.
Line 14: an example to better understand
Two passengers are waiting for metro 14 in the direction of Orly airport
As is the case on metro line 14, it happens that several operators operate the same line on behalf of Île-de-France Mobilités.
On line 14, there are no less than four. Four jingles on the same line would have created confusion for the traveller, who does not travel with one operator or another, but travels on the same network: that of the Ile-de-France transport network.
By choosing a single sound for an entire network, the travel experience is simplified
The year 2026 was the right time to create this new identity with the opening of the new metro line 18 and the continued opening to competition.
With this new unique sound identity, which will be broadcast in all transport in Île-de-France - metro, train, bus, tram, RER and even the brand new C1 - Île-de-France cable, Mobilités is pursuing its primary objective: to offer a simple, legible and consistent travel experience to passengers, across the entire network.
And in such a vast network, made up of eight departments, thousands of lines, different operators and millions of passengers with very different needs and habits, creating unity is a major challenge.
A harmonization that goes through sound, but not only
Sound is part of a common identity that makes it easier to recognize the network and move around it, with:
- The same colour for all modes of transport
- The same layout and interior design (colour of the seat fabrics, brightness)
- The same passenger information throughout the region and on all modes of transport
- And the launch this year of a single call number for all transport in Île-de-France (0 800 10 10 20) simplifies the administration and requests even more.
A sound signature that builds to a crescendo
In the coming months, this new jingle will gradually make its way into transport.
You will hear it first here, then there, along the lines and stations, until it accompanies the entire Île-de-France Mobilités network.
A few notes to signal information, create a familiar landmark and remind you that, wherever you are, you travel on the same network: that of Île-de-France Mobilités.