The Gare de Saint-Nazaire is the passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

serving the French town and port of

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Designed by Noël Le Maresquier with a functional and maritime style, it was built in 1995 in anticipation of the arrival of the

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. 105 bi-current sets, numbered ...

and replaced an older station in the town developed by the

Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

railway. Located to the north of the town, to make access easier there is a bridge linking the station to the main town centre. Its design has come in for some local criticism in 2008, as well as its state of upkeep. SNCF have promised various levels of maintenance and development, particularly to assist disabled passengers and make a better impression on visitors to the town. Access to the station by foot or car is currently difficult, due to associated and local redevelopment. The station is also noted for being the site of one of the most incredible survival stories of WW2. On January 3, 1943, US Airman Alan Magee fell from his crippled B-17, without a parachute, from a height 20,000 feet. He crashed through the glass ceiling of the train station, which slowed his fall enough to allow him to survive upon hitting the floor below.

Services

The station is served by both the TGV and the regional trains and buses of the

TER Pays de la Loire TER Pays de la Loire is the regional rail network serving Pays de la Loire, France. TER Network The rail and bus network as of May 2022:TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

(high speed train) provides connection to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, and

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

; with trains to Paris via the

LGV Atlantique The LGV Atlantique (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Atlantic high-speed line) is a high-speed rail line running from Paris (Gare Montparnasse) to Western France. It opened in 1989–1990 and comprises two stations: Massy TGV statio ...

taking just over 2 hours. TER Pays de la Loire and

Interloire Interloire (or TER 200 Interloire) is a French train service run by TER Centre-Val de Loire and TER Pays de la Loire linking Orléans to Le Croisic via Blois, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Saumur, Angers and Nantes. The sections between Nantes-Angers ...

provide links to

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

La Roche sur Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Na ...

, and many other regional cities and towns.Rechercher une fiche horaire
TER Pays de la Loire, accessed 16 May 2022.Carte des lignes régionales de transport des Pays de la Loire
TER Pays de la Loire, accessed 16 May 2022.

References

Saint-Nazaire Railway stations in Loire-Atlantique Railway stations in France opened in 1995 {{PaysLoire-railstation-stub

Services

See also

References