Carrefour Pleyel station

As part of a major works plan to reduce unemployment in the Paris region, the extension of the metro line from Porte de Saint-Ouen to Carrefour Pleyel was decided on 20 November 1940. The work began in February 1941. The sites progressed rapidly at first before the German occupation authorities slowed them down before stopping them completely in 1943. After the Liberation of France, work resumed when materials required were gradually restored. In 1948, the infrastructure was built and the station equipped at the beginning of 1950. The post-war period was a period of low investment for RATP, so much so that the station was only opened on 30 June 1952.

It was the northern terminus of the northern branch of the line until 26 May 1976, when the line was extended to Basilique de Saint-Denis. It is named after Carrefour Pleyel ("Pleyel crossroads"), which is named after the Austrian composer Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) who founded a musical publishing house in Paris. In 1807, he created near the future Carrefour Pleyel the famous Pleyel et Cie piano factory, which ceased production in 2013. The factory gave its name to the Rue des Pianos ("street of the pianos") near the station.

Because it was opened as a terminal station, it includes two tracks for trains going to Paris and several sidings, one of which gives access to an underground workshop for train maintenance, called the Atelier de Pleyel.

The station was decorated on the theme of "music" for the centenary of the Paris metro. An interactive lighting system was also implemented, especially in the basement of the station, which was the former terminus had therefore had facilities for metro employees that are now unused. But, following complaints by drivers and the Line 13 users association, the interactive system was closed down after two weeks of operation. Blue LEDs and elements of the inactive lighting facility still exist in the station.

Its name comes from the Pleyel crossroads, where two major road axes historically intersect: the RN 14 and the Route de la Révolte, and, more recently, access ramps to the A86 motorway. The Austrian piano maker and composer Ignace Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831) founded a musical publishing house in Paris and, in 1807, his famous piano factory on the site of this crossroads. The Pleyel brand is still active, but the manufacture has left Saint-Denis. In order to perpetuate this history, the city of Saint-Denis has named a place located nearby the Place des Pianos.

In 2019, 2,473,446 travellers entered this station, which places it in 210th position among metro stations for its use out of 302.[1]

By 2024, the station should be located near a major multimodal hub. One planned by the Grand Paris Express is the future Saint-Denis Pleyel station and the other, the Stade de France station (RER D) which will be united via a bridge called the Pleyel Crossing.

As for the new Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station, it should be located west of the railway line, at the corner of Rue Pleyel and Francisque-Poulbot.[2] It will be a station for line 15 and the future terminus for lines 14, 16 and 17.

Further connections could be made on the surface by a pedestrian path developed as part of the urban project carried by Plaine Commune and the municipality of Saint-Denis.