Denfert-Rochereau station (french: Gare de Denfert-Rochereau) is a railway station in Paris. It was one of the first

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

railway network, and is still in use as a station of Paris' RER line B. The station was built from 1842 and opened on 7 June 1846 as the ''Gare d'Enfer'' (or ''Gare de Paris-d'Enfer''), after the nearby Place d'Enfer (now called the Place Denfert-Rochereau), itself named after the

Barrière d'Enfer Barrière is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jean-Baptiste Barrière (1707-1747), French cellist and composer *Jean-François Barrière (1786-1868), French historian *Jean de la Barrière (1554–1600), French religio ...

. The station building has a circular shape as it possessed a rail loop. Indeed, the station was the Parisian terminus of a line from Sceaux. The Ligne de Sceaux used the Arnoux system (after its inventor), as it required the construction of specific engines capable of travelling on very tight curves and

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

tracks of . The Arnoux system was abandoned in 1891 and the line was converted to (standard) gauge. The line was extended to Luxembourg station in 1895, with the newly created Port-Royal station along the way. At the same time, the station was renamed after

Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau Pierre Philippe Marie Aristide Denfert-Rochereau, (11 January 1823 – 11 May 1878), was a French serviceman and politician. He achieved fame by successfully defending besieged Belfort during the Franco-Prussian War: this earned him the soubrique ...

. The line was operated by the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans until 1937 when the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Métropolitain de Paris (CMP) (predecessor of the RATP) took over. It became line B of the RER in 1977 on being extended to meet line A at Châtelet – Les Halles. The station building of Denfert-Rochereau station is the oldest railway building still standing in Paris. Denfert-Rochereau remains a station of line B of the Réseau Express Régional and is an interchange with the métro station of the same name, Denfert-Rochereau.

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Réseau Express Régional stations Railway stations in Paris Railway stations in France opened in 1846 Buildings and structures in the 14th arrondissement of Paris {{ParisRER-stub