The line goes through the centre of Paris, and also serves the communes of Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, Clichy, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Gentilly, Villejuif, Chevilly-Larue, L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Thiais and Paray-Vieille-Poste.

Before the start of its commercial service Line 14 was known as project Météor, an acronym of MÉTro Est-Ouest Rapide.

[1] The line extended further north to Saint-Denis–Pleyel and south to Aéroport d'Orly, as part of the Grand Paris Express project, on 24 June 2024.

To cater permanently to demand on the busy artery between Auber and Gare de Lyon new rail lines would have to be built.

Two proposals were made by the transport companies: the SNCF suggested a new tunnel between Châtelet and Gare de Lyon for Line D of the RER allowing traffic to circulate from the north and south-east of Île-de-France.

In 1987, the RATP proposed "project Météor", ("MÉTro-Est-Ouest-Rapide") the creation of a new Métro line, from Porte Maillot on the edge of the 16th arrondissement to the Maison Blanche district in the 13th, an area poorly served by transport despite its large population.

The project would fit well with the regeneration of the Tolbiac district on the left bank around the new Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in that arrondissement.

[N 1] From November 1989 until the end of 1992, exploratory shafts and galleries were dug; tunnelling proper lasted from July 1993 until early 1995.

The terrain, made mostly of loosely packed limestone and marl was favourable to drilling and the tunnel advanced at a respectable 350 metres (380 yards) a month.

The tunnel reached the future Pyramides station on 17 January 1995, and Madeleine on 15 March; it stopped underneath boulevard Haussmann in August and was brought to the surface through shafts there the same month.

[12] That same year, service was interrupted several times to allow the installation of material for an extension north from Madeleine to Saint-Lazare.

In 2007, the line was extended south to Olympiades, an area of high rise towers in the XIIIe arrondissement poorly served by the Métro.

Initially planned to open in 2006, work was delayed by the collapse of a primary school courtyard during the night of 14–15 October 2006.

A second northern extension to Mairie de Saint-Ouen opened on 14 December 2020, somewhat helping to desaturate the section of Line 13 between this station and Saint-Lazare.

According to the designers, the stations should be the reflection of a "noble public space, monumental in spirit, urban in its choice of forms and materials".

The station's exit is constructed from a glass bubble designed by Jean-Marie Charpentier and situated just in front of the Gare de Paris-Saint-Lazare, pointing towards the row of bus-stops.

[citation needed] Pyramides and Madeleine are endowed with a particular lighting, bright sunshine outside falls onto the platforms; a system which evidently does not work at night.

[citation needed] Gare de Lyon offers travellers the view of a tropical garden on the right side of trains towards Olympiades, as one enters the station.

Moreover, it is the only station equipped with a central platform, the only possible layout in light of the area's underground construction density.

[citation needed] Olympiades station was developed by the architects Ar.thème Associés following the line's guiding principles, defined by Bernard Kohn from 1991.

[citation needed] On the other hand, certain stations on the line are notable due to the disagreeable odour of humidity and sulfur that one can sometimes find as far as the changeover halls.