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Gare d'Austerlitz ( English: ''Austerlitz station''), officially Paris Austerlitz, is one of the seven large Paris railway terminal stations. The station is located on the
left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...
of the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
in the southeastern part of the city, in the 13th arrondissement. It is the start of the
Paris–Bordeaux railway The railway from Paris to Bordeaux is an important French 584-kilometre long railway line, that connects Paris to the southwestern port city Bordeaux via Orléans and Tours. The railway was opened in several stages between 1840 and 1853, when the ...
; the line to
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
is connected to this line. In 1997, the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...
designated the Gare d'Austerlitz a
historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
; it became the fifth large railway station in Paris to receive such a label, as currently only
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
has not been attributed it. Since the opening of the
LGV Atlantique The LGV Atlantique (; ) is a high-speed rail line running from Gare Montparnasse in Paris towards the Atlantic coast of France. It opened in 1989–1990 and has two intermediate stations: Massy TGV station and Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV s ...
ending at
Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris Montparnasse, is one of the seven large List of Paris railway stations, Paris railway termini, and is located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th and 15th arrondissement of Paris ...
Austerlitz has lost most of its long-distance southwestern services. It is used by some 30 million passengers annually, about half the number passing through Montparnasse. The Elipsos Train Hotels (Trenhotel) operated jointly by
Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...
and
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
operated from here to
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
and
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
from 2001 to 2013. They would leave in the early evening and arrive next morning. With the start of a direct TGV from Paris to Barcelona, on 15 December 2013, the Trenhotel services were discontinued.


History


1840 station

The Gare d'Austerlitz was the main station in Paris for the Paris-Orléans (PO) company and was originally called the Gare d'Orléans station. The station is near the Quai d'Austerlitz, and the bridge that gives it its name. These were named after the
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
town once known as Austerlitz (today
Slavkov u Brna Slavkov u Brna (; ) is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,300 inhabitants. The town gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz, which took place several kilometres west of the town. The his ...
).
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
defeated the
Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition () was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Th ...
there on 2 December 1805 at the
Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...
. Built from 1838, the first platform was built slightly back from the current location of the station by the architect Félix-Emmanuel Callet and began service on 20 September 1840, on the occasion of the opening of the Paris-Corbeil line, which was extended to Orléans in May 1843. Part of the rue Poliveau was cut by this construction, and another part, located near the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
, took the name of rue Jouffroy. The first expansion took place in 1846.


1867 station

Demolished, the station was rebuilt, from 1862 to 1869, by Pierre-Louis Renaud (1819–1897), chief architect of the Paris-Orléans company. It included a large hall made from iron, wide and long (the second largest in France after Bordeaux), designed by Ferdinand Mathieu and carried out by the construction workshops of Schneider & Co at
Le Creusot Le Creusot () is a Communes of France, commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerl ...
and
Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...
. This vast space was also used as a workshop for making
gas balloon A gas balloon is a balloon that rises and floats in the air because it is filled with a gas lighter than air (such as helium or hydrogen). When not in flight, it is tethered to prevent it from flying away and is sealed at the bottom to prevent t ...
s, during the Siege of Paris in 1870. Also built was the departure pavilion to the north, the perpendicular building of the restaurant
buffet A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...
, the arrival pavilion to the south, as well as the Paris-Orléans railway administration building at the west end of the hall, on Place Valhubert, with a ''Belle Époque'' style
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
. The administrative building was an extension of the iron hall, whose
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
was invisible from Place Valhubert. This arrangement, as well as the choice of side entrances, was unusual for a terminal station.


Evolution since 1900

In 1900, the Paris-Orléans company extended its railway line towards the centre of the capital, with the Gare d'Orsay becoming the new head of line, when it entered service on 28 May on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle. The design was by architect Victor Laloux, and the construction by the contractor Léon Chagnaud. In 1906, the great hall of Gare d'Austerlitz was literally pierced through its width by the Metro 5 line by an extension of a viaduct crossing the Seine. An elevated station was located in the hall. In 1910, during the great flood of the Seine, the station was flooded and rail traffic completely interrupted from 31 January to 9 February. During this period, the departure and arrival of the trains were terminated at Gare de Juvisy. Since 1926, the Paris-Vierzon line was electrified to 1500 V, so no more steam engines entered Austerlitz. It was the first station in Paris to no longer receive a steam train. In 1939, the Gare d'Orsay saw its function limited to suburban traffic, and the Gare d'Austerlitz once again became a terminus station for the main lines. In 1979, a extension to the Orsay line was built in a tunnel along the bank of the Seine, connecting the line to the Gare des Invalides, the terminus of the Rive Gauche line to
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. This new Transversal Rive Gauche line is today the central section of Line C of the Parisian
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
system, the Réseau Express Régional (RER). On 28 February 1997, parts of the Gare d'Austerlitz were classified as monuments historiques, especially its facades and glass roof.


Future

A large refurbishment project of the Paris Austerlitz is currently under way. Four new platforms are being constructed and all the existing tracks are being refurbished. The interior will be rebuilt in order to handle LGV Sud-Est and
LGV Atlantique The LGV Atlantique (; ) is a high-speed rail line running from Gare Montparnasse in Paris towards the Atlantic coast of France. It opened in 1989–1990 and has two intermediate stations: Massy TGV station and Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV s ...
services, partially transferred from the
Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris Gare de Lyon (), is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and ...
and
Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris Montparnasse, is one of the seven large List of Paris railway stations, Paris railway termini, and is located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th and 15th arrondissement of Paris ...
, both of which are at maximum capacity. All the work is planned to be completed by 2020, and will double the activity at the station.


Train services

The following services currently call at Paris-Austerlitz: *intercity services (''Intercités'') Paris–Orléans *intercity services (''Intercités'') Paris–Orléans–Blois–Tours *intercity services (''Intercités'') Paris–Orléans–Vierzon–Bourges *intercity services (''Intercités'') Paris–Vierzon–Limoges–Brive–Toulouse *night services (''Intercités de Nuit'') Paris–Toulouse–Latour-de-Carol *night services (''Intercités de Nuit'') Paris–Orléans–Cerbère/Albi *night services (''Intercités de Nuit'') Paris–Gap–Briançon Gare d'Austerlitz also hosts stations on the
Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...
(lines 5 and 10, see Gare d'Austerlitz (Paris Métro)) and RER.


See also

* List of Paris railway stations *
List of stations of the Paris RER A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
* List of stations of the Paris Métro


References

*Roland, Gérard (2003). ''Stations de métro. D'Abbesses à Wagram.'' Éditions Bonneton.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Austerlitz Railway termini in Paris Réseau Express Régional stations Buildings and structures in the 13th arrondissement of Paris Railway stations in France opened in 1840 TER Centre-Val de Loire