Brétigny: station history
Served by: RER C.
Did you know?
A RER C station at Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne), on the Paris-Austerlitz to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean line, at an altitude of 77 metres. A first station was put into service in 1843 by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans; the present station was built in 1865 on another site, and construction of the station building had begun in 1862. It joined RER C in 1979. In 1858 the station served a village of 823 inhabitants, and in 1853 the writer Edmond Texier described Brétigny as a place of no importance.
Anecdote
It is a junction station, the starting point of the Brétigny to La Membrolle-sur-Choisille line. The track was quadrupled between Juvisy and Brétigny in 1908, then between Brétigny and Étampes in 1910. By 1913 a group of 18 siding tracks was in place, and in 1916 a marshalling yard was installed to relieve the one at Juvisy. On 12 July 2013, an Intercités train from Paris-Austerlitz to Limoges derailed in the station; the station was renovated from April to June 2014, with a new shelter and a lift.
Around Brétigny
- Base aérienne 217 de Brétigny, 1050 m away — A former air base and flight-testing centre, south of the town.