The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline
railway station termini in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital and northern France via the
Paris–Lille railway, as well as to international destinations in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Located in the northern part of Paris near the
Gare de l'Est in the
10th arrondissement, the Gare du Nord offers connections with several urban transport lines, including
Paris Métro,
RER and
buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...
. The majority of its passengers have been commuters travelling between the northern suburbs of Paris and outlying towns. It is the
busiest railway station in Europe by total passenger numbers; in 2015, the Gare du Nord saw more than 700,000 passengers per day.
The current Gare du Nord was designed by French architect
Jacques Ignace Hittorff
Jacques Ignace Hittorff or, in German, Jakob Ignaz Hittorff (, ) ( Cologne, 20 August 1792 – 25 March 1867) was a German-born French architect who combined advanced structural use of new materials, notably cast iron, with conservative Bea ...
, while the original complex was constructed between 1861 and 1864 on behalf of the
Chemin de Fer du Nord company. The station replaced an earlier and much smaller terminal sharing the same name, which was operational between 1846 and 1860. A substantial refurbishment programme being performed during the late 2010s and early 2020s will greatly redesign the station. The plans for this include a significant expansion of the station's footprint and ability to handle passengers, expanding onsite amenities and establishing a new departure terminal in preparation for the
2024 Summer Olympics. As a consequence of this redevelopment, the Gare du Nord will become the largest railway station in Europe.
Early history
Predecessor
The first Gare du Nord was constructed on behalf of the
Chemins de fer du Nord company, which was managed by Léonce Reynaud, professor of architecture at the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
. During 1843, the engineer Onfroy de Bréville, having been placed in charge of the first section of the company's
proposed line between
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, produced a report that considered two different options for the terminal station.
Management opted to construct the less spacious of the two options, despite the occurrence of stations serving capital city becoming overwhelmed already being a known phenomenon in both
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. For his part, de Bréville promoted the smaller option as being more than adequate to meet demand and reducing its impact on the existing neighbourhood of Clos Saint-Lazare; it was also considerably cheaper than the larger alternative option.
[Nilsen 2008, p. 89.]
The engineer and architect Francois-Leonce Reynaud was appointed to design the station itself.
In terms of its basic configuration, the station accommodated a total of six tracks and two large platforms underneath a single shed. This shed, which was divided into two naves, was supported by a series of cast iron columns and wooden trusses; the structure featured a relatively distinctive drainage system that used the hollow columns as drain pipes directly into the city's
sewers.
Road traffic was directed to a large courtyard set to the side of the station.
On 14 June 1846, the first Gare du Nord station was inaugurated; that same year, the Paris–Lille railway was also declared to be operational. During the following decade, not only was there a major boom in railway traffic as the French network rapidly expanded,
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...
himself heavily advocated for grand investments in infrastructure to be made, with the railways being a prime recipient of the French state's attention.
[Nilsen 2008, pp. 69-71.] During the late 1850s, it had become clear that the original Gare du Nord would be far too small to accommodate the demands of a major terminal station, thus it was decided to replace it entirely. The decision to redevelop the station was considerably eased by the expense of doing so being shared between the company and the city.
[Nilsen 2008, p. 103.] Accordingly, the station building was partially demolished in 1860 to provide space for the current station; the original station's façade was removed and transferred to
Lille station (now Lille-Flandres).
Current station
The chairman of the Chemin de Fer du Nord railway company,
James Mayer de Rothschild
James Mayer de Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild (born Jakob Mayer Rothschild; 15 May 1792 – 15 November 1868) was a German-French banker and the founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family.
Early life
James de Rothschild was born ...
, chose the French architect
Jacques Ignace Hittorff
Jacques Ignace Hittorff or, in German, Jakob Ignaz Hittorff (, ) ( Cologne, 20 August 1792 – 25 March 1867) was a German-born French architect who combined advanced structural use of new materials, notably cast iron, with conservative Bea ...
to design the current station. Construction of the new complex was carried out between May 1861 to December 1865; the new station actually opened for service while still under construction during 1864. The façade was designed around a triumphal arch and used many slabs of stone. The building has the usual U-shape of a terminus station. The main support beam is made out of
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
. The support pillars inside the station were made at Alston & Gourley's ironworks in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
in the United Kingdom, the only country with a
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
large enough for the task.
The sculptural display represents the principal cities served by the company. Eight of the nine most majestic statues, crowning the building along the cornice line, illustrate destinations outside France, with the ninth figure of Paris in the centre. Fourteen more modest statues representing northern European cities are lower on the façade. The sculptors represented are:
* London and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
by
Jean-Louis Jaley
*
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
by
François Jouffroy
François Jouffroy (1 February 1806 – 25 June 1882) was a French sculptor.
Biography
Jouffroy was born in Dijon, France, the son of a baker, and attended the local drawing school before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 18 ...
*
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
by
Charles Gumery
Charles-Alphonse-Achille Guméry (14 June 1827 – 19 January 1871) was a French sculptor working in an academic realist manner in Paris. Several of his figures ornament the Opéra Garnier most notoriously the group ''La Danse'', which was com ...
*
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
by
Gabriel Thomas
*
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
by
Jean-Joseph Perraud
*
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
by
Mathurin Moreau
Mathurin Moreau (18 November 1822 – 14 February 1912) was a French sculptor in the academic style.
Moreau was born in Dijon, first exhibited in the 1848 Salon, and finally received a medal of honor from the Salon in 1897. He was made may ...
* Paris,
Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
and
Compiegne by
Pierre-Jules Cavelier
Pierre-Jules Cavelier (30 August 1814, Paris – 28 January 1894, Paris) was a French academic sculptor.
Biography
The son of a silversmith and furniture maker, Cavelier was born in Paris. He was a student of the sculptors David d'Angers an ...
*
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
and
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
by
Théodore-Charles Gruyère
Théodore-Charles Gruyère (born 17 September 1813 in Paris, died in 1885) was a French sculptor.
In 1836 as the pupil of Auguste Dumont. He hit notoriety in 1839 winning the Prix de Rome.
His other works are some busts, some statues of saints fo ...
*
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
and
Beauvais
Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris.
The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...
by
Charles-François Lebœuf
*
Valenciennes and
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
by
Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire
*
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...
and
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
by
Eugène-Louis Lequesne
Eugène-Louis Lequesne (or Le Quesne) (15 February 1815 – 3 June 1887) was a French sculptor. Lequesne was born and died in Paris. In 1841, he entered the École nationale des beaux-arts, in James Pradier's workshop. In 1843, he won t ...
*
Douai and
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. by
Gustave Crauck
*
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the ...
and
Saint-Quentin by
Auguste Ottin
Auguste-Louis-Marie Jenks Ottin (1811–1890) was a French academic sculptor and recipient of the decoration of the Legion of Honor.
Early life
Ottin was born and died in Paris, where he was a pupil of David d'Angers and of the École des ...
It was originally planned that a monumental avenue would be constructed leading up to the station's façade, cutting through the old street layout. Between 1838 and 1859, around a dozen separate proposals to redevelop the streets around Gare du Nord were tabled.
However, no such redevelopment ever happened despite the extensive rebuilding of Paris headed by the Baron
Georges-Eugène Haussmann; the Gare du Nord's absence from Haussmann's work has been referred to as "exhibiting arbitrariness and inconsistency".
[Nilsen 2008, p. 81.] According to the railway historian Micheline Nilsen, the decision not to proceed with the redevelopment has been typically attributed to Haussmann and his personal displeasure that the city would have to bear such great expense on behalf of the Gare du Nord, and that Haussmann's overall attitude led to a pronounced understatement of the railways.
[Nilsen 2008, p. 89.] Whatever the reason, the station has persistently suffered problems with a lack of space and poor access.
Services
Like other Parisian railway stations, the Gare du Nord rapidly proved to be too small to handle persistent increases in railway traffic. Accordingly, the station has been periodically reconfigured.
During 1884, engineers were able to install five supplementary tracks. During 1889, the station's interior was completely rebuilt, while an extension was constructed along its eastern side to serve the suburban rail lines. Further rounds of expansion work were carried out between the 1930s and the 1960s.
Beginning in 1906 and 1908, the station was served by the
Metro Line 4 (which crosses Paris from north to south) and the terminus of
Metro Line 5 (which ran to
Étoile through
Place d'Italie. In 1942, Line 5 was extended towards the northern suburbs of
Pantin and
Bobigny, while its south terminus was set to Place d'Italie.
Metro Line 2 (station
La Chapelle) is linked to the Gare du Nord via a tunnel. One enters the Métro station; instead of climbing the stairs that lead to the elevated Métro line (not all of Line 2 is elevated), one descends several flights of stairs, before traversing a long, arched circular hallway to enter the station.
During 1994, the arrival of high speed
Eurostar international services required another reorganisation of the rail tracks:
* Platforms 1 and 2: Service platforms, not open to the public.
* Platforms 3 to 6: Terminus of the London
Eurostar via the
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...
. Access to these trains is from the upper level, reached by an escalator opposite platform 17.
* Platforms 7 and 8:
Thalys platforms for Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
* Platforms 9 to 18:
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
North Europe, Main Line trains, and some
Picard TER.
* Platforms 19 to 21:
Picard TER.
* Platforms 30 to 36: Suburban station, Transiliens and
Picard TER (Paris-Beauvais line)
* Platforms 41 to 44 (underground):
RER station, lines B and D.
* 4 Métro Platforms (underground): Lines 4&5
It is also connected to
Magenta RER Station (4 platforms, line E) and
La Chapelle Métro Station (2 platforms, line 2).
After the 'Additional Protocol to the Sangatte Protocol' was signed by France and the United Kingdom on 29 May 2000,
juxtaposed controls
Juxtaposed controls (in french: link=no, bureaux à contrôles nationaux juxtaposés, or ; in nl, link=no, kantoren waar de nationale controles van beide landen naast elkaar geschieden) are a reciprocal arrangement between Belgium, France, th ...
were set up in the station.
Eurostar passengers travelling to the UK clear exit checks from the
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...
(carried out by the
French Border Police) as well as UK entry checks (conducted by the
UK Border Force) in the station before boarding their train.
PARAFE self-service gates are available in the station which eligible passengers (EU, EEA and Swiss citizens aged 12 or above holding
biometric passports) can use to clear French exit immigration checks (instead of a staffed counter).
ePassport gates have also been installed in the station, which eligible passengers (UK, EU, EEA, Swiss, Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand, Singaporean, South Korean and United States citizens (as well as other foreign nationals who have applied for the Registered Traveller scheme) aged 12 or over holding
biometric passports) can use to clear UK entry immigration instead of a staffed counter.
By 2015, the Gare du Nord was reportedly the busiest railway station in Europe, handling in excess of 700,000 passengers during a typical day. Most of these passengers are commuters travelling in from the northern suburbs of Paris and outlying towns; only 3 per cent of the traffic has been attributed to
Eurostar's international services.
There is a further construction project to build a connecting hallway between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, which is projected to open around the time when the new LGV Est begins serving the station. When open the Gare du Nord-Gare de l'Est complex (including Magenta & La Chapelle) will have 77 platforms.
Security for the station is provided by the
French police
Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570 when night watch systems were commonplace.Dammer, H. R. and Albanese, J. S. (2014). ''Comparative Criminal Justice Systems'' (5th ed.). Wadesworth Cengage learning: Belmont, C ...
, the railways police and private security companies. Due to the position of the station as a gateway to the northern suburbs of Paris, there are some parts of the station where security incidents occur from time to time.
Refurbishment
The SNCF has long sought to improve the station to better handle traffic, particularly following the expansion of
high speed rail services during the 1990s and 2000s accompanied by rising passenger numbers.
By 2015, 700,000 passengers were using the Gare du Nord each day;
projections produced in 2018 predicted these numbers to rise to 800,000 by 2024 and 900,000 by 2030.
During 2015, the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte was engaged by SNCF with the directive to "open the station towards the city".
According to SNCF Project Director Stéphane Cougnon, the programme has a budget in excess of 600 million euros (£526m).
The endeavour has the public backing of Paris' mayor,
Anne Hidalgo, who has also pledged to address the frequent traffic problems in front of the station by reconfiguring its approaches.
Critics of the redevelopment have included several architects and urban planners, who have typically objected to the high level of commercialisation involved.
The changes to the Gare du Nord shall be substantial, expanding its footprint to roughly two and a half times its pre-refurbishment footprint, turning it into the largest railway station in Europe.
The expansion shall be facilitated largely by increasing the building's height, as well as by pulling back the outer walls in several places. The work shall build upon the existing philosophy of keeping arriving and departing passengers separated; all mainline departures are to be centralised within a new building alongside the eastern façade.
To improve the station's interconnectivity with the rest of the city, the SNCF has reportedly considered the construction of a new eastern façade along the rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis to give direct access to the new departures terminal, as well as a new bus terminal.
Various new onsite amenities shall be provisioned across 50,000m
2 of floorspace, representing a five-fold increase.
Amongst the various retailers and commercial operations planned are two restaurants that are to operate on the station's roof, along with a
gym,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
court,
putting range, 1 km fitness trail along the façade, and in excess of 7,000m
2 of green space. To improve accessibility throughout, a total of 55 lifts and 105 escalators shall be installed, more than doubling the pre-redevelopment number.
Eco-friendly considerations have also been made, conforming with the demanding
BREEAM standards and incorporating features such as 3,200m
2 of
solar panel
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...
s. Despite the ambitious scope, great care shall be taken to preserving its historic architecture and appearance, the station having been regarded as a national heritage site in its own right. The project has reportedly been modelled using several other major stations, including
London St Pancras and
New York's
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
.
During June 2019, a city commission opted to initially deny a construction permit associated with the project.
Nonetheless, work commenced on the refurbishment during late 2019, and is scheduled to be completed during late 2023.
The station will remain open during the renovations despite the increased technical challenge posed by doing so, the cost of closure being judged to be too great. Substantial planning has gone into minimising disruption and maximising passenger comfort throughout the programme.
Some portions of the station, such as the relatively recent facilities for Eurostar services, shall remain relatively untouched. In addition to work on the station site itself, SNCF shall be making alterations along the entire northern corridor within this period in association with the redevelopment work.
It is reportedly intended for the station's refurbishment to be completed by 2024, the year in which Paris is to host the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
.
In popular culture
The Gare du Nord has served as a backdrop in numerous French films, such as ''
Les Poupées Russes''.
In Nancy Mitford's ''
The Pursuit of Love'', Linda first meets Fabrice in the Gare du Nord when she runs out of resources and is sitting weeping on her suitcase.
In US movies, both the exterior and the interior of the Gare du Nord are seen in the 2002 film ''
The Bourne Identity'' with
Matt Damon and again in the trilogy's finale, ''
The Bourne Ultimatum
''The Bourne Ultimatum'' is the third Jason Bourne novel written by Robert Ludlum and a sequel to ''The Bourne Supremacy'' (1986). First published in 1990, it was the last Bourne novel to be written by Ludlum himself. Eric Van Lustbader wrote ...
'', released in August 2007. It was also seen in ''
Ocean's Twelve
''Ocean's Twelve'' is a 2004 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi. The second installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy franchise and the sequel to ''Ocean's Eleven'' (2001), the film features a ...
'' in 2004, and ''
Mr Bean's Holiday'' in 2007. The ending of the 2012 movie ''
The Raven'' by James McTeigue takes place at the station.
Scenes of ''
Gossip Girl'' episode "
Double Identity" were shot inside the Gare du Nord.
Train services
The following services currently call at Paris Nord:
*High speed services (''Eurostar'') Paris –
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
*High speed services (''Thalys'')
**Paris –
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
–
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
**Paris – Brussels –
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
–
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...
–
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
**Paris – Brussels – Cologne
*High speed services (''TGV'')
**Paris –
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
**Paris – Lille –
Tourcoing
Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, ...
**Paris – Lille –
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
**Paris – Lille – Calais –
Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
–
Rang-du-Fliers
Rang-du-Fliers () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Rang-du-Fliers is located on the Côte d'Opale (the Opal Coast), 4 miles (6 km) from the beach and 5 miles (8 km) southe ...
**Paris – Lille –
Dunkerque
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France.
**Paris –
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
–
Béthune – Dunkerque
**Paris – Arras –
Douai –
Valenciennes
*Regional services (''Transilien'')
**Paris –
Saint-Denis –
Montsoult-Maffliers –
Luzarches
**Paris – Saint-Denis – Montsoult-Maffliers –
Persan-Beaumont
**Paris – Saint-Denis –
Ermont-Eaubonne – Persan-Beaumont
**Paris – Saint-Denis – Ermont-Eaubonne –
Pontoise
**Paris –
Aulnay-sous-Bois
Aulnay-sous-Bois () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the Île-de-France region in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aulnaysiens ...
–
Mitry-Claye –
Crépy-en-Valois
Crépy-en-Valois (, literally ''Crépy in Valois'') is a commune located in the Oise department in northern France. It is located in the Paris Metropolitan Area, northeast of the center of Paris.
History
Crépy-en-Valois was founded in the ten ...
*Regional services (''TER Hauts-de-France'')
**Paris – Crépy-en-Valois –
Soissons –
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
**Paris –
Creil –
Compiègne
Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''.
Administration
Compiègne is the seat of two cantons:
* Compiègne-1 (with ...
–
Tergnier
Tergnier () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Its location on the Canal de Saint-Quentin and the Creil–Jeumont railway ( Tergnier station) supported its development as an industrial centre in the se ...
– Saint-Quentin
**Paris – Persan-Beaumont –
Beauvais
Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris.
The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...
**Paris –
Orry-la-Ville – Creil –
Saint-Just-en-Chaussée
Saint-Just-en-Chaussée ( pcd, Saint-Just-in-Cœuchie) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Saint-Just-en-Chaussée station has rail connections to Amiens, Creil and Paris.
History
Its name refers to Saint Justus of Beauvais ...
–
Breteuil –
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
RER
Gare du Nord is well connected to the
Paris RER network. Lines
B and
D call at platforms under the station. Line B serves
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest inter ...
(Roissy),
Mitry – Claye in the north-east of the city and
Antony (for
Orly Airport),
Massy-Palaiseau) (for
Massy TGV and
Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse in south-west Paris. Line D offers a quick connection between Gare du Nord and
Gare de Lyon and many areas of south-east Paris. Line D also operates to northern Paris, to
Saint-Denis and
Creil.
Both lines B and D serve
Stade de France
The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foo ...
in
Saint-Denis.
The RER station is directly connected to
Magenta station, which was constructed further underground to the east of the Gare du Nord. It is served by the
RER E
RER E is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its suburbs. The RER E line travels between Paris and eastern subur ...
line that offers a link between the Gare du Nord and
Saint-Lazare/
Gare Saint-Lazare
The Gare Saint-Lazare (English: St Lazarus station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It serves train services toward Normandy, northwest of Paris, along the Paris–Le Hav ...
and to eastern Paris, to
Bondy
Bondy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department. In 2019, it had a population of 54,587.
Name
The name Bondy was recorded for the first time arou ...
,
Chelles and
Tournan-en-Brie.
Paris Métro
* Lines
4 and
5, whose following station is
Gare de l'Est.
* There has been a connecting hallway connecting the RER station with
La Chapelle on
Line 2 since the 1990s.
See also
*
List of Paris railway stations
Below is a list of railway stations in Paris, France, current and historical.
Active stations
Major lines
These stations are the terminal stations of major lines (trains going beyond the Île-de-France region), and, except for Bercy, the subu ...
*
List of stations of the Paris RER
*
List of stations of the Paris Métro
*
List of works by Henri Chapu
Henri Chapu (1833–1891) was a French sculptor.
Chapu was born in Le Mée-sur-Seine on 30 September 1833. He trained at the École Gratuite de Dessin as a tapestry maker. In 1849 his successes led him to the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, where ...
Sculptor of statue representing Beauvais
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Nilsen, Micheline. "Railways and the Western European Capitals: Studies of Implantation in London, Paris, Berlin, and Brussels." Springer, 2008. .
External links
*
Gare du Nord.fr Information on visiting Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord Photo Tour , Paris By TrainGare du Nord shops and general info about the station* High-resolution 360° Panorama o
Gare du Nord , Art Atlas*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nord
Railway termini in Paris
Réseau Express Régional stations
Buildings and structures in the 10th arrondissement of Paris
Railway stations in France opened in 1846
Infrastructure completed in 1864
Railway stations served by Eurostar
French railway stations with juxtaposed controls