It replaced the previous Noctambus service on the night of 20/21 September 2005, providing for a larger number of lines than before and claiming to be better adapted to night-time transport needs.
In place of the previous hub-and-spoke scheme where all buses terminated at and departed from the heart of Paris: Châtelet, Noctilien's new service includes buses operating between banlieues (communes surrounding Paris proper) as well as outbound lines running from Paris' four main railway stations: Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse and Gare Saint-Lazare. In addition, these four stations are also connected to each other by a regular night bus service.
All in all, Noctilien operates 52 bus lines, from the end of the rail network and day bus service (around 00:30) until their resumption early in the morning (around 05:30), over the whole of Paris and the Île-de-France region.[2]
It is made up of:
2 circular lines: N01 & N02 running between Paris' major train stations ;
6 transversal lines: from N11 to N16 running between different suburbs of Paris via its center at Châtelet ;
21 radial lines (the other 2 digits lines, except N71) running between major Paris stations and more or less its near suburbs ;
2 radial long distance lines: N122 & N153 (subcontracted by the RATP) running between Paris and its remote suburbs ;
19 radial long distance lines (the other 3 digits lines, except N135) running between Paris and its remote suburbs (with often a partly motorway route) and managed by the Transilien SNCF ;
2 ring lines in the suburbs: N71 by RATP & N135 by Transilien SNCF.
Like Transilien, the name "Noctilien" is formed by analogy with "Francilien" — the French demonym for residents of Île-de-France.
Noctilien lines
The time intervals indicated here may depend on the day of week -- service is reinforced on Friday and Saturday nights and on days that precede bank holidays.
Each bus line number starts with for Noctilien followed by a two or three digit number:
2 digits starting with "N0" for the two "circular" routes
2 digits starting with "N1" for the "transversal" routes
2 digits starting with "N2" for buses running from Châtelet
2 digits starting with "N3" for buses running from Gare de Lyon
2 digits starting with "N4" for buses running from Gare de l'Est
2 digits starting with "N5" for buses running from Gare Saint-Lazare
2 digits starting with "N6" for buses running from Gare Montparnasse
3 digits starting with "N1" for the long distance buses running to the outer suburbs.
References
^Lambert, Bertrand (18 December 2017). "La galère des transports nocturnes" [The real hassle of night transports] (TV report). Parigo. Episode 13 (in French). YouTube. Event occurs from 01'30" to 01'37". France 3. Paris Île-de-France. Retrieved 27 February 2019. Magazine of the Paris France 3-TV editorial dedicated to mobility in the Île-de-France region.