Paris train stations get upgrade to an integrated hub

Paris contains a “cluster” of main public transport stations by Gare du Nord with the Magetna RER station and Gare du Est in a 500 m proximity to each other. The two locations host 800 000 passengers each day of which 200 000 passengers are using both for interchanges. Now, the transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités announced a € 50 million plan to improve the connection between the two stations by 10 project elements.

Walking connections are already in place between the two main stations, but these are alongside heavy trafficked main roads and include a stairway for the shortest connection. The transport authority recognises that these connections are “difficult to use and hard to find”. By its investment plan, the authority aims to improve the connections between Gare du Nord and Gare du Est giving priority to pedestrians on the links and installing escalators where simple stairs are in place today only. The most ambitious project is an underground pedestrian connection from the Magenta RER station underneath Gare du Nord to the subway stations at Gare du Est. Lifts and escalators safeguard suitable access for people with reduced mobility in this.

Once all elements of the investment plan are in place, the two main stations will form an integrated hub serving as a central access point to the entire Île-de-France region.

Story first published by Railway Gazette on 10 October 2018.