The bus line 249 connects Porte des Lilas to Dugny, crossing several municipalities in the northeastern Paris area, including Les Lilas, Pantin, Aubervilliers, and La Courneuve. Knowing the precise first departures, last passages, and frequency variations according to the days helps avoid unnecessary waits, especially on a route where regularity is a recurring complaint from users.
Transfer to Transdev Ourcq: what changes for the bus 249 schedule
Since the opening up of the bus network to competition in the Est-Ourcq area, line 249 is no longer operated solely by RATP. Transdev Ourcq now handles the operational management, which has direct consequences on how the schedules are disseminated and updated.
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The official timetables are published both on the Transdev Ourcq website and on the Île-de-France Mobilités ilico platform. In practice, a user consulting all the bus 249 schedules can cross-reference these sources to verify the consistency of the information, especially during seasonal updates.
This transfer is part of the bus plan 2025 led by Île-de-France Mobilités, which qualifies line 249 as a structuring line for serving the ZACs of northeastern Paris. The stated goal is to improve regularity during peak hours, a sensitive point for users of the Porte des Lilas – Les Quatre Chemins segment.
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First departures and last passages of bus 249 by day
The operating hours vary significantly between weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday. The table below summarizes the data from the official timetable published by Île-de-France Mobilités.
| Day | Direction | First Departure | Last Departure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Thursday | Dugny – Place Valérie André | 06:00 | 00:35 |
| Monday to Thursday | Porte des Lilas | 05:05 | 00:30 |
| Friday | Dugny – Place Valérie André | 06:00 | 01:35 |
| Friday | Porte des Lilas | 05:05 | 01:30 |
| Saturday | Dugny – Place Valérie André | 06:00 | 01:35 |
| Saturday | Porte des Lilas | 05:05 | 01:30 |
| Sunday and public holidays | Dugny – Place Valérie André | 07:00 | 00:35 |
| Sunday and public holidays | Porte des Lilas | 07:00 | 00:30 |
Notable differences between directions
The first bus departing from Porte des Lilas towards Dugny leaves at 06:00 from Monday to Saturday. In contrast, the first departure from Porte des Lilas to the south starts as early as 05:05 on weekdays and Saturday, nearly an hour earlier. This asymmetry reflects the demand from workers heading to Paris early in the morning.
On Sundays, both directions align with a first departure at 07:00, with a reduced span of about one hour compared to weekdays.
On Fridays and Saturdays, an additional hour of service in the evening
The last departures on Friday and Saturday are pushed back by one hour compared to the rest of the week. The last bus leaves Dugny at 01:35 (compared to 00:35 from Monday to Thursday) and Porte des Lilas at 01:30 (compared to 00:30). This extended time slot covers part of the evening returns without needing to resort to the Noctilien.
Waiting times and frequency of bus 249 during peak hours
The official timetable does not detail minute-by-minute intervals for each stop, but the observable frequency varies greatly depending on the time of day. The given schedules remain indicative: Île-de-France Mobilités specifies that the passage times depend on traffic conditions.
- During morning peak hours (around 07:00-09:00), the frequency is the highest, with closely spaced passages on the central segment between Les Quatre Chemins and Porte des Lilas.
- During midday and the afternoon, the interval between two buses significantly lengthens, which can lead to waits of ten to fifteen minutes depending on the stops served.
- In the early evening, the frequency decreases while demand remains high, an imbalance reported by users during public consultations for the bus plan 2025.
Reports from the Plaine Commune and Est parisien partners’ committee mention a rise in complaints about overcrowding and waiting times during the evening peak, particularly between Porte des Lilas and Les Quatre Chemins. Île-de-France Mobilités has planned a targeted increase in service on this segment in response to this feedback.
Connections of bus 249 with the metro, RER, and tramway
The route of bus 249 intersects several key lines of the Île-de-France network, making it a feeder line for municipalities located outside the dense metro network.
- Metro: lines 3bis, 5, 7, and 11 (connections at Porte des Lilas and along the intermediate route)
- RER B (station accessible from several stops on the northern route)
- Tramway T3b and T11, which offer complementary cross connections
For users taking bus 249 as a feeder to metro line 5 or line 7, the first departure at 05:05 from Porte des Lilas allows them to catch the first metro trains without a tight margin. On Sundays, the shift to 07:00 requires checking compatibility with the reduced metro schedules.
Reduced service route from Dugny – Place Danièle Casanova
A complementary service departs from the stop Dugny – Place Danièle Casanova and the stop 4 Chemins towards Dugny. The first departures from these points are at 05:05 on weekdays and 07:06 on Sundays, with a last passage at 19:10 on Sundays and public holidays. This partial service covers a shorter segment and is not available every day with the same schedule.
Line 249 remains a dense service route between Paris and the northeastern inner suburbs. The nearly one-hour gap between the first departures depending on the direction, combined with the announced reinforcement in the evening slot, are the two key pieces of information to remember when planning trips on this route.