Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City

Overview

Every day, Paris’ six railway stations welcome over 3,000 trains and more than a million travelers coming from France and all over Europe. The stations’ sizes are impressive: Gare du Nord is bigger than the Louvre or Notre-Dame de Paris. These railway stations are architectural landmarks and a model of urban planning despite the radical changes they’ve undergone since their construction in the middle of the 19th century. How did the railway stations manage to absorb the boom of travelers in just a few decades? What colossal works were necessary to erect and then modify these now essential buildings? From the monumental glass walls of Gare du Nord to the iconic tower of Gare de Lyon, to the first-ever all-electric train station, each has its own story, technical characteristics, and well-defined urban image.

Cast

Julien Bocher

Narrator (voice)

Bertrand Lemoine

Self - Engineer and architect

N/A

Stéphanie Sauget

Self - Railway historian

Clive Lamming

Self - Railway historian

François Loyer

Self - Heritage historian

Georges Ribeill

Self - Sociologist and railway historian

N/A

Patrick Cognasson

Self - Railway historian

N/A

Marc Le Cœur

Self - Architecture historian

N/A

Étienne Riot

Self - Urbanism researcher

N/A

Didier Leroy

Self - Railway historian

N/A

Véronique Veston

Self - Heritage architect