Gare Montparnasse

Gare Montparnasse (French pronunciation: [ɡaʁ mɔ̃paʁnas]; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the seven large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements.

Paris-Montparnasse
SNCF TGV TER Transilien
Montparnasse station inside
General information
LocationPlace Raoul-Dautry
75015 Paris
France
Coordinates48°50′24″N 2°19′07″E
Elevation63 m (207 ft)
Owned bySNCF
Operated bySNCF
Line(s)LGV Atlantique
Paris–Brest railway
Paris–Granville railway
Platforms28
Other information
Station code87391003 / 87391102 (Vaugirard)
Fare zone1 (Public transport fares in the Île-de-France)
History
Opened10 September 1840
Passengers
202035 162 417 [1]
Rank4th in France
Services
Preceding station SNCF Following station
Terminus TGV
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
towards Tours
Massy TGV
towards Bordeaux
Rennes
towards Brest
Le Mans
towards Rennes
Rennes
Terminus
Massy TGV
towards Toulouse
Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV
towards Poitiers
Angers Saint-Laud
towards Nantes
Le Mans
towards Nantes
Niort
towards La Rochelle
Le Mans
towards Saint-Malo
Rennes
towards Quimper
Preceding station Ouigo Following station
Terminus Grande Vitesse Massy TGV
towards Rennes
Massy TGV
towards Nantes
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
towards Bordeaux
Bordeaux
towards Toulouse
Preceding station Transilien Transilien Following station
Terminus Line N Vanves–Malakoff
Preceding station Le Réseau Rémi Following station
Versailles-Chantiers
towards Le Mans
3.2 Terminus
Preceding station TER Normandie Following station
Terminus Krono
Versailles-Chantiers
towards Granville
Connections to other stations
Preceding station Paris Métro Paris Métro Following station
Vavin Line 4 Saint-Placide
Pasteur Line 6 Edgar Quinet
towards Nation
Falguière Line 12 Notre-Dame-des-Champs
Gaîté Line 13 Duroc

The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to a new station just south of the original location – where subsequently the prominent Montparnasse Tower was constructed. It is a central element to the Montparnasse area. The original station is noted for the Montparnasse derailment, where a steam train crashed through the station in 1895, an event captured in widely known photographs – and reproduced in full scale in several locations.[2]

The station serves intercity TGV trains to the west and southwest of France including Tours, Bordeaux, Rennes and Nantes, and suburban and regional services on the Transilien Paris – Montparnasse routes. There is also a metro station. Gare Montparnasse is the only mainline terminus in Paris not directly connected to the RER system, though the Montparnasse main line is connected to the RER at Versailles-Chantiers and the LGV Atlantique at Massy Palaiseau.

History

The station opened in 1840 as Gare de l'Ouest,[3] later being renamed. A second station was built between 1848 and 1852.

On 25 August 1944, the German military governor of Paris, General von Choltitz, surrendered his garrison to the French General Philippe Leclerc at the old station. (see Liberation of Paris).

During the 1960s, a newer station integrated into a complex of office buildings was built further down the track.[4][5] In 1969, the old station was demolished and the Tour Montparnasse built on its site. An extension was built in 1990 to host the TGV Atlantique.

1895 derailment

Granville–Paris Express wreck on 22 October 1895.

The Gare Montparnasse became famous for the derailment on 22 October 1895, of the Granville–Paris Express, which overran the buffer stop. The engine careered across almost 30 metres (100 ft) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60-centimetre (2 ft) thick wall, shot across a terrace and smashed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below, where it stood on its nose. Two of the 131 passengers sustained injuries, along with the fireman and two conductors. The only fatality was a woman on the street below, Marie-Augustine Aguilard, who was temporarily taking over her husband's work duty while he went out to get the newspapers. She was killed by falling masonry.[6] The railway company later paid for her funeral and provided a pension to look after her two children. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine driver, who was trying to make up lost time.[7] A conductor was given a 25-franc fine and the engine driver a 50-franc fine.

Replicas of the train crash are recreated outside the Mundo a Vapor ("Steam World") museum chain buildings in Brazil, in the southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, in the city of Canela.[8]

Train services

From Paris Montparnasse train services depart to major French cities such as: Le Mans, Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Brest, Saint-Malo, Vannes, Lorient, Quimper, Angers, Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Tours, Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne and Granville. The station is also served by suburban trains heading to the west and south-west of Paris.

  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Lourdes – Tarbes
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Bayonne – Biarritz – Hendaye
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Agen – Toulouse
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Arcachon
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours – Poitiers – Angoulême – Bordeaux
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Poitiers – La Rochelle
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes – St Brieuc – Brest
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Vannes – Lorient – Quimper
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Rennes – St Malo
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Nantes – St-Nazaire – Le Croisic
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Angers – Nantes
  • Discount High Speed Services (Ouigo TGV) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) - Poitiers - Saint-Pierre-des-Corps- Angoulême - Bordeaux
  • Discount High Speed Services (Ouigo TGV) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) - Le Mans - Laval - Rennes
  • Regional Services (TER Normandie) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) to Granville with numerous stops
  • Regional services (TER Centre) Paris – Versailles – Rambouillet – Chartres – Le Mans
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – St-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Rambouillet
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir – Dreux
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir – Mantes-la-Jolie
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir

Lines serving this station

Adjacent metro station:

Nearby station:

See also

References

  1. "Fréquentation en gares - SNCF Open Data". ressources.data.sncf.com (in French). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. Train Wreck Replica, retrieved 4 March 2009
  3. Musee Orsay, retrieved 9 July 2009
  4. Rebuilding a Paris Terminus Modern Railways issue 213 June 1966 pages 320-322
  5. Paris Montparnasse rebuilt Modern Railways issue 250 July 1969 page 375
  6. Danger Ahead, retrieved 4 March 2009
  7. Let's pause for a station break on Failure Magazine
  8. The Trainwreck Industry Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 4 March 2009
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