Tours station (
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
: ''Gare de Tours'') is a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
serving the city of
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
,
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.[France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...]
. It is situated on the
Paris–Bordeaux railway
The railway from Paris to Bordeaux is an important French 584-kilometre long railway line, that connects Paris to the southwestern port city Bordeaux via Orléans and Tours. The railway was opened in several stages between 1840 and 1853, when the ...
, the
Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway
The railway from Tours to Saint-Nazaire is an important French 282-kilometre long railway line, following the lower course of the river Loire. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened i ...
, and the non-electrified
Tours–Le Mans railway
The railway from Tours to Le Mans is a French 96-kilometre long railway line. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in 1858.
The line is non-electrified, only around Tours and Le Ma ...
. The Gare de Tours is a
terminus
Terminus may refer to:
Ancient Rome
*Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers
Transport
*Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination
*Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...
; most
TGV
The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...
trains only serve the nearby
Gare de Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps station () is a railway station serving the town of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and the Tours agglomeration, Indre-et-Loire department, western France. It is situated on the Paris–Bordeaux railway and the Tours–Saint-Nazair ...
.
Location
Established at a terminus at 49 meters above sea level, the Tours station is the origin of the line of the
Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway
The railway from Tours to Saint-Nazaire is an important French 282-kilometre long railway line, following the lower course of the river Loire. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened i ...
and of the line from
Tours–Le Mans railway
The railway from Tours to Le Mans is a French 96-kilometre long railway line. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in 1858.
The line is non-electrified, only around Tours and Le Ma ...
. Not being located on the
Paris-Austerlitz to
Bordeaux-Saint-Jean line, Tours station is connected by two connections. The connection from Saint-Pierre-des-Corps to Tours in the direction of Paris-Austerlitz and the connection from Tours to Monts (branches of the Bordeaux line) towards Bordeaux-Saint-Jean. Until May 5, 1970, it was the terminus station of the Sables-d'Olonne line, whose route from the terminal was abandoned from Joué-lès-Tours station, in favor of a connection created between this last station and the line from Paris-Austerlitz to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, south of Tours.
The first station in the direction of Saint-Nazaire is that of Gare Saint-Genouph. In the direction of Mans, the first station open is that of Gare de La Membrolle-sur-Choisille, after that which is now closed at Fondettes - Saint-Cyr. In the direction of Paris-Austerlitz, the first station is that of
Gare de Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps station () is a railway station serving the town of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and the Tours agglomeration, Indre-et-Loire department, western France. It is situated on the Paris–Bordeaux railway and the Tours–Saint-Nazair ...
and in the direction of Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, that of Gare de Monts.
History

The first railway station for Tours (called ''L’Embarcadère'') was built in 1846 by Phidias Vestier, on the site of the current Place du Général-Leclerc, Tours, like Orléans, having accepted service rail late. It is operated by the ''
Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans
The ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans'' (, PO) was an early French railway company.
It merged with the '' Chemins de fer du Midi'' to form the '' Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi'' (PO-Midi) in 1934. In 1938 the PO ...
''. The Vendée station, serving
Les Sables-d'Olonne
Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside resort and port on the Atlantic coast of western France. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loi ...
, was built on behalf of the ''Compagnie des chemins de fer de la Vendée'' in 1875, west of the first station.
The current passenger building was built between 1896 and 1898 under the direction of
tourangeau is a French term for a person from the city of Tours.
It can also refer to:
* Wesley Tourangeau] (1989-present), Professor at the University of Waterloo
* Adolphe Guillet dit Tourangeau (1831–1894), Québecois politician
* Huguette Tourangeau
...
architect
Victor Laloux
Victor-Alexandre-Frédéric Laloux (; 15 November 1850 – 13 July 1937) was a French Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts architect and teacher.
Life
Born in Tours, Laloux studied at the Paris ''atelier'' of Louis-Jules André, with his st ...
, with four allegorical limestone statues of cities by
Jean Antoine Injalbert
Jean-Antoine Injalbert (; 3 February 1845 – 20 January 1933) was a French sculptor.
Life
The son of a stonemason, Injalbert was a pupil of Augustin-Alexandre Dumont and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1874. At the Exposition Universelle ( ...
(Bordeaux and Toulouse) and
Jean-Baptiste Hugues
Jean-Baptiste Hugues (15 April 1849, in Marseille – 28 October 1930, in Paris) was a French sculptor.
He won the Grand Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1875. He was resident at the Villa Medicis from 1876 to 1879. When he was alive, he gained som ...
(Limoges and Nantes). The purpose of this project was to merge the equipment of ''Paris-Orléans'' and the State Railways (which had acquired the Chemins de fer de la Vendée). It has been listed as a
monument historique
() is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
since 28 December 1984.
Between the end of the 19th century and the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the railways and workshops of the railway companies occupied a large area of the city of Tours; these spaces were urbanized to form the districts of Sanitas and the Rotunda.
As part of the construction of the first
Tours tramway
The Tours tramway is a tram network which is operated by the city of Tours, in Indre-et-Loire, in the France, French region of Centre-Val de Loire. Originally opening on 31 Aug 2013, the route is nearly 15 kilometers long and has 29 stations. The ...
in 2013, annexes to the station were destroyed, as well as the buildings on the Rue de Nantes which linked the Rue des Aumônes to the Place du Général-Leclerc along the station. The Rue de Nantes is replaced by the tramway, while the west facade of the station is open to facilitate access to the new Gare de Tours station.
In 2018, according to SNCF estimates, the annual usage of the station was 4,690,784 passengers and if non-passengers are included, its usage rises to 5,863,480.
Passenger Services
Welcome
A
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
station, it has a passenger building, with a ticket office, open every day and equipped with automatic ticket vending machines. It is equipped with 6 platforms serving 12 lanes. The platform serving tracks D and E, and the platform serving tracks F and G are more than 443 meters, making it possible to receive two
SNCF TGV Atlantique
The TGV Atlantique (TGV-A) is a class of high-speed trains used in France by SNCF; they were built by Alstom between 1988 and 1992, and were the second generation of TGV trains, following on from the TGV Sud-Est trainsets. The trains were named ...
trainsets.
Station

The building brings together four materials: stone (for the facade and its statues), iron (as the supporting structure), cast iron (especially for the decoration of the interior columns) and glass (with two large canopies on the facade to provide lightness and transparency).
Four statues dominate the building. Two directed by
Jean-Antoine Injalbert
Jean-Antoine Injalbert (; 3 February 1845 – 20 January 1933) was a French sculptor.
Life
The son of a stonemason, Injalbert was a pupil of Augustin-Alexandre Dumont and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1874. At the Exposition Universelle ...
(allegories of Bordeaux and Toulouse), and two directed by
Jean-Baptiste Hugues
Jean-Baptiste Hugues (15 April 1849, in Marseille – 28 October 1930, in Paris) was a French sculptor.
He won the Grand Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1875. He was resident at the Villa Medicis from 1876 to 1879. When he was alive, he gained som ...
(allegories of Limoges and Nantes). The painted earthenware panels, produced between 1896 and 1898, are by Eugène Martial Simas.
The Tours-Center station underwent a refurbishment of its interior and facade work in 2006. Gold leaf was thus laid, as the Laloux project initially planned.
The refurbishment of the building continued until 2013. Thus, the interior layout was revised and openings were made to the west of the building to create a third entrance. At the same time, the large passenger hall was being restored with the metallic elements of the frame being re-painted; likewise, the zinc cover and the translucent cover (with polycarbonate in place of polyester) were redone.
Services
The following services currently call at Tours:
[Rechercher une fiche horaire]
TER Pays de la Loire, accessed 17 May 2022.
*regional services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Tours - Blois - Orléans
*regional services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Tours - Gièvres - Vierzon
*local services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Tours - Loches
*regional services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Nantes - Angers - Tours - Blois - Orléans
*local services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Tours - Chinon
*regional services (TER Centre-Val de Loire) Tours - Vendôme - Chartres
*regional services (TER Pays de la Loire) La Roche-sur-Yon - Bressuire - Thouars - Saumur - Tours
*local services (TER Pays de la Loire) Angers - Saumur - Tours
*local services (TER Pays de la Loire) Le Mans - Château-du-Loir - Tours
*regional services (TER Normandie) Caen - Alençon - Le Mans - Tours
Other transport connections
The station is connected to the ''Fil bleu'' urban transport network, in particular line A of the
Tours tramway
The Tours tramway is a tram network which is operated by the city of Tours, in Indre-et-Loire, in the France, French region of Centre-Val de Loire. Originally opening on 31 Aug 2013, the route is nearly 15 kilometers long and has 29 stations. The ...
, which came into service on 31 August 2013. On this occasion, new access was created on the west facade of the station (Rue de Nantes) to allow direct correspondence from the Salle des Pas Perdus.
It is also in connection with line 2 Tempo which is a high level of service bus line (BHNS) and bus lines 3a / b, 5, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19, 34, 50, 100, 110, 112, 114, 117, 118, either directly in front of the station (Gare de Tours stop), or at the end of the forecourt, on Boulevard Heurteloup (Gare Vinci stop).
Access to the ''Réseau de mobilité interurbaine'' (Rémi) is on the forecourt of the station at the rest area.
School circuits organized by ''Communauté de communes'' or ''Syndicat intercommunal des transports scolaires'' (SITS) in neighboring municipalities also serve Tours station, at the rest area.
Freight
This station is open to freight traffic.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tours
Railway stations in Indre-et-Loire
Buildings and structures in Tours, France
Monuments historiques of Indre-et-Loire
TER Pays de la Loire
TER Centre-Val de Loire
Railway stations in France opened in 1846
Buildings and structures completed in 1898
19th-century architecture in France