Porte des Lilas () is a station 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 ...

. It serves line 11 and is the northern

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

of line 3bis. Located on the edge of the

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

and 20th arrondissements of Paris, it serves the neighborhood of the Porte des Lilas. The station is named after the nearby ''Porte des Lilas'', a gate in the nineteenth century

Thiers Wall The Thiers wall (''Enceinte de Thiers'') was the last of the defensive walls of Paris. It was an enclosure constructed between 1841 and 1846 and was proposed by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers but was actually implemented by his succe ...

of Paris, which led to the town of

Les Lilas Les Lilas () is a commune in the northern-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. History The commune of Les Lilas (literally "the lilacs") was created on 24 July 1867 by detaching a part of the territory of ...

. The station was referred to in Serge Gainsbourg's famous 1958 chanson "''Le poinçonneur des Lilas'' about the ennui of a Métro employee's workday. A

Scopitone Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos. The 1959 Italian Cinebox/Colorama and Color-Sonics were competing, lesser-known technologies of the time one year before the Scop ...

music video for the song was filmed in Porte des Lilas, showing the singer in a Métro uniform, punching tickets. Until January 2021 when line 14 was extended to Porte de Clichy, it was the only station at one of the gates of Paris to be served by two separate métro lines (it was served only by line 13 previously).

History

The station was opened on 27 November 1921 when line 3 was extended from Gambetta to Porte des Lilas, serving as its eastern terminus. It was originally planned to operate services through to Pré-Saint-Gervais on the then line 7, hence, two separate stations were built – one before the reversal loop (the station used today) and another along the tracks leading to Pré-Saint-Gervais (Porte des Lilas - Cinéma). This plan, however, did not materialise and only a shuttle service operated between the station and Pré-Saint-Gervais via a tunnel called ''voie navette'' until 2 September 1939 when it was stopped due to the onset 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 ...

.' The line 11 platforms opened as part of the original section of the line from Châtelet to Porte des Lilas on 28 April 1935 and was its eastern terminus until it was extended to Mairie des Lilas on 17 February 1937. On 27 March 1971, the line 3 platforms were transferred to line 3bis on its establishment. As part of modernization works for the extension of line 11 to Rosny-Bois-Perrier in 2023 for the Grand Paris Express, an additional entrance will be added at rue des Glaïeuls and will be equipped with escalators. Entrance 2 will also be retrofitted with a lift to make the station accessible to those with reduced mobility. From 26 June 2021 to 29 August 2021, the station acted as line 11's eastern terminus when its original terminus, Mairie des Lilas, was closed for renovations. In 2019, the station was used by 3,439,385 passengers, making it the 143th busiest of the Métro network out of 302 stations. In 2020, the station was used by 2,021,179 passengers amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, making it the 120th busiest of the Métro network out of 305 stations.

Passenger services

Access

The station has 5 entrances: * Entrance 1: avenue Gambetta (original surface building designed by Charles Plumet, similar to the ones at Pelleport and Saint-Fargeau on line 3bis) * Entrance 2: boulevard Mortier * Entrance 3:

rue de Belleville ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

* Entrance 4: boulevard Sérurier * Entrance 5: square du Dr. Variot A sixth entrance used to exist at the corner of avenue Gambetta and rue des tourelles, in front of the Piscine des Tourelles, then known as ''Stade Nautique''. It was removed during its reconstruction in 1989.

Station layout

Platforms

Line 3bis

It has a standard configuration with 2 tracks surrounded by 2 side platforms.

Line 11

It has a particular configuration specific to the stations serving or had served as a terminus. It has 2 half-stations – the one towards ''Mairie des Lilas'' consisting of a side platform and a single track and the one towards ''Châtelet'' consisting of an island platform with two tracks flanking it. The platform towards Châtelet contains a few

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s on the walls – a portrait of

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

and two mosaics of

lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

Porte des Lilas - Cinéma

It also has a standard configuration with 2 tracks surrounded by 2 side platforms, with one track made for steel-wheeled trains (leading to ''voie des fêtes'') and another for rubber-tyred trains (leading to ''voie Navette'') and access to these platforms are usually restricted. The disused station has been repurposed as a set for commercials and films to avoid disrupting commercial services on the network, hence the nickname, ''cinéma''. It was featured in a brief scene in ''

Julie & Julia ''Julie & Julia'' is a 2009 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Messina. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her ...

'' and in the French film '' The Past'' with the station panels and signs adapted for each film. An average of 5 films are shot per year and a day of filming costs between 15,000 and 18,000

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s, bringing over 200,000 euros in revenue each year.

Other connections

Since 15 December 2012, the station has been served by tramway T3b. It is also served by lines 20, 48, 61, 64, 96, 105, 115, 129, 170, and 249 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 ...

, and at night, by lines N12 and N23 of the

Noctilien Noctilien is the night bus service in Paris and its agglomeration. It is managed by the Île-de-France Mobilités (formerly the STIF), the Île-de-France regional public transit authority, and operated by RATP (with 32 lines) and Transilien SNC ...

bus network.

Nearby

* Caserne des Tourelles (headquarters of the

DGSE The General Directorate for External Security (french: link=no, Direction générale de la Sécurité extérieure, DGSE) is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 2 April 1982. ...

) * Cirque Électrique * Cinéma CGR Paris-Lilas * Hôpital Robert-Debré * Paris Archives * Piscine Georges-Vallerey * Square du Docteur-Variot

Gallery

Station Porte Lilas Métro Paris Ligne 11 - Paris XIX (FR75) - 2022-06-24 - 1.jpg,

MP 59 The MP 59 (French : Métro sur Pneus d'appel d'offres de 1959) is a rubber tyred variant of electric multiple units used on the Paris Métro system, and is the oldest type still in regular passenger service. Manufactured by a consortium betwee ...

at Porte des Lilas towards Châtelet (line 11) Station Porte Lilas Métro Paris Ligne 11 - Paris XIX (FR75) - 2022-06-24 - 6.jpg, Line 11's platforms towards Mairie des Lilas Accès Station Métro Porte Lilas Boulevard Mortier - Paris XX (FR75) - 2022-01-01 - 3.jpg, Entrance 2 Accès Station Métro Porte Lilas Rue Belleville - Paris XX (FR75) - 2022-01-01 - 2.jpg, Entrance 3 Accès Station Métro Porte Lilas Boulevard Sérurier - Paris XIX (FR75) - 2022-01-01 - 1.jpg, Entrance 4 Chantier Entrée Station Métro Porte Lilas Avenue Porte Lilas - Paris XX (FR75) - 2021-06-11 - 3.jpg, Construction of the new entrance (2021) along rue des Glaïeuls Couloirs Station Métro Porte Lilas Paris 1.jpg, Corridors in the station

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porte Des Lilas (Paris Metro) Paris Métro line 3bis Paris Métro line 11 Paris Métro stations in the 19th arrondissement of Paris Paris Métro stations in the 20th arrondissement of Paris Railway stations in France opened in 1921 Art Deco architecture in France Paris Métro stations located underground