|
Gare du Nord - Paris
The Gare du Nord ("north station") is one of the six large terminus stations of the SNCF's main line network in Paris. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines (Paris MÈtro and RER). By number of travellers (around 180 million per year), it is the busiest station in Europe, and the third busiest railway station in the world. The railway station serves trains to the north of France, as well as various international destinations such as England, Belgium and The Netherlands
History
The first Gare du Nord was built by Bridge and Roadway engineers on the behalf of the Chemin de Fer du Nord company, which was notably managed by LÈonce Reynaud, professor of architecture at the …cole Polytechnique. The station was inaugurated on 14 June 1846, the same year of the inauguration of the ParisóAmiensóLille line. Since it turned out to be too small, it was partially demolished in 1860 to provide space for the current station, the former station's faÁade was removed and placed in Lille.
The president of Chemin de Fer du Nord, James Mayer de Rothschild, chose French architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff. Construction lasted from May 1861 to December 1865, but the new station opened for service while still under construction in 1864. The faÁade was designed around a triumphal arch and used many slabs of stone. It is very ornate, with 23 statues representing the cities served by the company. The building has the usual U-shape of a terminus station. The main support beam is made out of cast iron. The support pillars inside of the station were made in Scotland, the only country where there was a foundry that was sufficiently large.
Like other Parisian railway stations, Gare du Nord rapidly became too small to deal with the increase in railway traffic. In 1884, engineers were able to add five supplementary tracks. The interior was completely rebuilt in 1889 and an extension was built on the eastern side to serve suburban train lines. There were further expansions between the 1930s and the 1960s.
|
|
