La Défense station () is a station of the

Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail and tram-train network operated by SNCF and serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of lines Transilien Line H, H, Transilie ...

(

Réseau Saint-Lazare Réseau Saint-Lazare () is the network of railway lines originating from Saint Lazare Station in Paris. The network stretches from Paris to Normandy and encompasses suburban services. Parisian suburban rail services are operated under SNCF's bran ...

) suburban rail lines, RER commuter rail network,

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 ...

, as well as a stop of the Île-de-France tram network. In the future,

Paris Metro Line 15 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

of Grand Paris Express will pass through here, making it a huge railway hub. It is underneath the

Grande Arche La Grande Arche de la Défense (; "The Great Arch of the Defense"), originally called La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (; "Fraternity"), is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west ...

building in

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

, the business district just west of Paris. The station is the western terminus of Métro Line 1 and connects the

RER A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving the city and suburbs of Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List o ...

line to the Métro Line 1 station since 1992, the Line 2 tramway since 1994 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 ...

(Transilien) train station. It is also attached to a major shopping centre. There are over 25 million entries and exits each year. A temporary special

service began in to serve the newly-built Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT); the RER entered service on . The

RER E RER E is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line travels between western and eastern suburbs, with all ...

station built under the CNIT opened on 6 May 2024. Highlights on the surface nearby include the monumental Grande Arche, skyscrapers that host the headquarters of important French and foreign companies, and works of

urban art Urban art combines street art, guerrilla art, and graffiti and is often used to summarize all visual art forms arising in urban areas, being inspired by urban architecture or present urban lifestyle. Because the urban arts are characterized by exi ...

such as ''Le Pouce'' by

César Baldaccini César (born Cesare Baldaccini; 1 January 1921 – 6 December 1998), also occasionally referred to as César Baldaccini (), was a French sculptor. César was at the forefront of the Nouveau réalisme movement with his radical compressions (co ...

. From the central esplanade the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

can be seen further down the ''

Axe historique The ''Axe historique'' (; "historical axis") refers to a straightly aligned series of thoroughfare streets, squares, monuments and buildings that extend from the centre of Paris, France, to the west-northwest of the city. It is also known as t ...

''. Until May 2004, this part of

hosted an information centre of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

managed by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. Like the district it serves, the station takes its name from the 19th-century statue ''La Défense de Paris'', commemorating the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

Lines serving this station

* RER Line A and Line E *

Line 1 * Paris St Lazare Group III : ** SNCF Gare Saint-Lazare – St Nom la Breteche–Forêt de Marly ** SNCF Gare Saint-Lazare – Versailles Rive Droite * SNCF La Défense – La Verrière * Île-de-France tramway Line 2 There are four platforms in the Transilien station : In the morning: * Platforms 1 and 3 are used for PSL Group III lines to Paris * Platform 2 is used for PSL Group III lines to Versailles Rive Droite / St Nom la Breteche – Forêt de Marly * Platform 4 is used for La Défense – La Verrière line In the afternoon: * Platform 1 is used for PSL Group III lines to Paris * Platforms 2 and 4 are used for PSL Group III lines to Versailles Rive Droite / St Nom la Breteche – Forêt de Marly * Platform 3 is used for La Défense – La Verrière line

Station layout

*Note: The two side platforms for Metro Line 1 are located some distance apart, as opposed to one island platform.

Gallery

File:Gare RATP La Défense.JPG,

platforms File:Gare SNCF La Défense.JPG,

platforms File:Paris 06 2012 T2 tram 3156.JPG, Paris Tramway Line 2 platform File:Station Défense Métro Paris Ligne 1 - Puteaux (FR92) - 2022-07-02 - 6.jpg, MP 05 on Line 1 File:Metro L1 Grande-Arche IMG 1600.JPG, New automatic platform gates on eastbound platform

In popular culture

Buffet froid ''Buffet froid'' (English: Cold Buffet) is a 1979 French film written and directed by Bertrand Blier, starring Gérard Depardieu, Carole Bouquet, Bernard Blier and Jean Carmet. The film is a surreal black comedy portrayed as a crime thriller, s ...

, the film, begins at La Défense station.

References

Bibliography

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

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defense station Paris Métro stations in Puteaux Réseau Express Régional stations Railway stations in Hauts-de-Seine La Défense Railway stations in France opened in 1992 Railway stations located underground in France Accessible Paris Métro stations