Liège () is a station on Line 13 of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

. Opened in 1911, it is located the border of the

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

and 9th arrondissements.

History

It was built as part of the

Nord-Sud Company The Nord-Sud Company (English: North-South; french: Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris) was an operator of underground trains in Paris established in 1904, which built two lines (now Line 12 and part of Line ...

's Line B from Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen and opened on 26 February 1911 as ''Berlin'', named after the nearby ''Rue Berlin''. As the Rue d'Amsterdam, which the line runs under at this point, is too narrow to accommodate platforms across from each other, the station was built with offset platforms. It was closed on 1 August 1914 at the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It reopened on 1 December 1914, when it and the street it was named after had been renamed after the Belgian city of Liège, paying homage to the heroic Belgian resistance during the

Battle of Liège A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

who surely saved French and British armies. On 27 March 1931 the Nord-Sud Company was taken over by the

Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris The Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris S.A. (Paris Metropolitan Railway Company Ltd.), or CMP, was the forerunner of the RATP, the company managing the Paris Métro. Origin So as not to be dependent on the Chemin de fer de l ...

and line B became line 13 of the Métro. The station was closed at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when many stations were closed for economic reasons. Unlike all but eight of the closed stations, its reopening was significantly delayed, in this case until 1968. Even then its opening hours were limited, being closed on Sunday and closing at 8pm on the other days, with all trains running through without stopping. Although Rennes station, which also reopened in 1968 began to operate normal opening hours in 2004, the authorities refused to agree to Liège working normal hours. Changing lifestyles and increasing redevelopment of the area, with residences replacing offices, inspired a sustained political campaign. Eventually it was agreed to operate normal hours from 4 December 2006. In 1982, Liège was refurbished with new ceramic decorations made in

Welkenraedt Welkenraedt (; Ripuarian: ; wa, Welkenrote) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Welkenraedt had a total population of 9,920. The total area is 24.47 km² which gives a population d ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, which evoke the landscapes and monuments of the Province of Liège. It had further renovation work in December 2006.

Passenger services

Access

The station has only one entrance, a staircase on the median strip opposite no. 21, Rue de Liège.

Station layout

*Note: The

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s are offset.

Platforms

Its geographical location explains one of its peculiarities. It has two platforms that do not face each other. The Rue d'Amsterdam, being too narrow to accommodate the traditional station on network, the trains stop at the first half-station encountered. The

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

metro station, on line 8, is the only other station in the capital built as this model for the same reasons, the trains stopping there on in the second half-station encountered.La station ''

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

'' à

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...

, sur la ligne 3, possède des quais seulement partiellement décalés. The station was originally decorated, like all the non-connecting stations of the ''Société du Chemin de Fer Électrique Nord-Sud de Paris'', simply known as the 'North-South', with its name advertised on vast mosaics and friezes of brown ceramic bearing the initials 'NS'. This decoration was supplemented with a new one based on the framework of cultural exchanges between France and

in 1982. This is based on ceramics made from photos of

and installed in the advertising frames of the right wall facing the single platforms of each half-station. It evokes landscapes and monuments of the province of Liège. This modification also saw the installation of new tiles on the entrance tunnels of each platform, with the coat of arms of the city of Liège on one of the two entrances. The ceramics on the two platforms are the work of two

scenographers A scenographer or production designer, develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term originated in theater. A scenographer work ...

from Liège, Marie-Claire Van Vuchelen for the southern direction and Daniel Hicter for the northern direction. The eighteen frescoes, nine in each direction, are painted in color in northern direction and blue

duotone Duotone (sometimes also known as ''Duplex'') is a halftone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting color halftone over another color halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an ...

in the southern direction.

Bus connections

The station is served by lines 21 and 95 of the

RATP Bus Network The RATP bus network covers the entire territory of the city of Paris and the vast majority of its near suburbs. Operated by the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), this constitutes a dense bus network complementary to other public ...

Gallery

File:Metro de Paris - Ligne 13 - station Liege 03.jpg, Line 13 platform at Liège File:Metro Liege NS 2 quais.jpg, The opposite platform can be seen through the tunnel

References

*Roland, Gérard (2003). ''Stations de métro. D’Abbesses à Wagram.'' Éditions Bonneton. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liege (Paris Metro) Paris Métro stations in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Paris Métro stations in the 9th arrondissement of Paris Railway stations in France opened in 1911