Gare du Nord
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Gare du Nord is one of the six large terminus stations of the SNCF's main line network in Paris. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines (Paris Metro and RER). By number of travellers (around 180 million per year), it is the busiest SNCF station, and probably the third busiest train station in the world.
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History
The first Gare du Nord was built by Bridge and Roadway engineers on the behalf of the Chemins de fer du Nord company, which was notably managed by Léonce Reynaud, professor of architecture at the École Polytechnique. The station was inaugurated on 14 June 1846, the same year of the inauguration of the Paris—Amiens—Lille line. Since it turned out to be too small, it was partially demolished in 1860 to provide space for the current station, the former station's façade was removed and placed in Lille.
The president of the Chemins de fer du Nord, James Mayer Rothschild chose French architect Jacques Hittorff. Construction lasted from May 1861 to December 1865, but the new station opened for service while still under construction in 1864. The façade was designed around a triumphal arch and used many slabs of stone. It is very ornate, with 23 statues representing the cities served by the company. The most majestic statues, which crown the building, illustrate international destinations (Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Brussels) while national destinations correspond with more modest statues on the façade. The building has the usual U-shape of a terminus station. The main support beam is made out of cast iron. The support pillars inside of the station were made in Scotland, the only country where there was a foundry that was sufficiently large.
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Like other Parisian train stations, Gare du Nord rapidly became too small to deal with the increase in railway traffic. In 1884, engineers were able to add five supplementary tracks. The interior was completely rebuilt in 1889 and an extension was built on the eastern side to serve suburban train lines. There were further expansions between the 1930s and the 1960s.
Beginning in 1906 and 1908, the station was served by the Paris Metro: Line 4, which crosses Paris from north to south, and the terminus of Line 5, which extended to Gare de Lyon. In the 1930s, Line 5 was extended towards the suburbs of Pantin and Bobigny.
Finally, in 1994, the arrival of Eurostar trains imposed a further reorganisation of the tracks:
- Quays 1 and 2: Service platforms, not open to the public.
- Quays 3 to 6: Terminus of the London Eurostar via the Chunnel.
- Quays 7 and 8: Thalys platforms for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
- Quays 9 to 29: TGV North, Main Line trains, then the Picard TER
- Quay 30 to 40: Suburban station
- In the basement, platforms 41 to 44: RER station
There is a further construction project to build a correspondence hallway between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, which is projected to open around the time when the new TGV East begins serving the station.
Terminal list
SNCF
- International railways
with the Eurostar and Thalys platforms
- National
for Picardie and Nord-Pas-de-Calais
- regional
with the suburban station: Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-d'Oise
RER
Connects to the B and D lines in the basement. Line B serves Charles de Gaulle airport. Line D assures a quick passage between Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon. Both lines serve Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The RER station is directly connected to Magenta station which was constructed further underground to the east of Gare du Nord in order to service RER E.
Metro
- Lines 4 et 5, whose following station is Gare de l'Est.
- There has been a correspondence hallway connecting the RER train station with La Chapelle on Line 2 since the 1990s.