Gare de Lyon: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro lines 1 and 14, RER A and D, Transilien R.
Why this name?
In the 12th arrondissement, the station of lines 1 and 14 owes its name to the nearby Gare de Lyon. The line 1 platforms opened on 19 July 1900, those of line 14 on 15 October 1998; line 14 was built from the surface, without interrupting traffic on rue de Bercy. The station has twelve entrances, one of which, on rue de Bercy, gives a walking connection with Bercy station, and another, on rue Van Gogh, with Gare d'Austerlitz.
Anecdote
The line 1 station, open-air under a 23.90-metre-wide metal deck, was meant to host the circular line that was never built: four tracks and two central platforms 6 metres wide. Until 1967, a narrow-gauge « voie des Finances » (Finance track), protected by an armoured door, carried the metro's takings in small battery-powered trains. Between the track towards Orly and the Maison de la RATP, an exotic garden occupies the space reserved for an access to the transport museum, which was never built.
Audio guide
One of the most beautiful train stations in the capital
A gilt palace… in a train station
For the Universal Exhibition of 1900, the Gare de Lyon offers a buffet at the height of the travels of the Belle Époque. President Émile Loubet inaugurated it in 1901: golden ceilings, crystal chandeliers and 41 large paintings celebrating the cities served by the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée line, from Marseille to Menton. 🎨
Renamed Le Train Bleu in 1963, in homage to the luxury train that led the elite to the Côte d 'Azur, it was classified as a historical monument in 1972. 🏛️
Sarah Bernhardt, Colette, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí... all stopped by. Today, you can enjoy it under untouched gilding for a timeless lunch, with or without a train to take. 🍽️
Around Gare de Lyon
- Coulée verte René-Dumont, 350 m away — A 4.7-km linear park inaugurated in 1993 on the former railway line from Bastille to Verneuil-l'Étang, closed in 1969. It is presented as the first project in the world to turn old elevated railway lines into an urban garden.
- Le Train Bleu, 50 m away — A historic listed restaurant decorated with Belle Époque frescoes, right inside Gare de Lyon.
- Viaduc des Arts, 350 m away — A former railway viaduct converted into a gallery of craft workshops beneath its arches, topped by the green walkway.