Gare du Nord: origin of the name and station history
Served by: metro lines 4 and 5, RER B and D, Transilien H and K.
Why this name?
In the 10th arrondissement, the station of lines 4 and 5 is named after the railway station, itself named after the destination it serves, the North of France; the Chemins de fer du Nord company operated it until 1938. Line 4 runs under rue de Dunkerque and line 5 under rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis. The entrance designed in 1900 by Hector Guimard is listed as a historic monument. Underground passages link the station to the RER B and D stations and to Magenta station (RER E).
Anecdote
Originally, line 5 ended here in a loop; it was abandoned and turned into a training centre (USFRT), while a classic station was built for the extension to Église de Pantin. On line 4, the platforms, 75 metres long until the mid-1960s, were lengthened to 90 metres for the rubber-tyred metro that arrived in 1967; a later extension can be recognised by its higher ceiling and its mezzanine.
Audio guide
A neoclassical station inspired by Roman triumphal arches
Inaugurated on 14 June 1846 for the Paris–Lille line, it quickly became too small. The Compagnie du Nord, led by Baron James de Rothschild, had it built three times larger. In 1860, the old facade was dismantled stone by stone and reassembled in Lille: it is still that of the Lille-Flandres station.
In Paris, the architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff built the current station from 1861 to 1865: an iron and cast iron frame, hidden behind a neoclassical stone facade inspired by Roman triumphal arches. His signature: 23 statues of women, each embodying a city served. London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Lille... and Paris, at the very top, in the centre: before getting on the train, you pass under the gaze of your destination.
Classified as a historical monument in 1975, Gare du Nord is today the leading train station in Europe, with more than 500,000 passengers per day.
Around Gare du Nord
- Gare du Nord, 130 m away — Europe's busiest railway station, with a monumental 19th-century façade adorned with statues symbolising the cities it serves.
- Marché Saint-Quentin, 400 m away — A 19th-century covered market with the typical metal architecture of Parisian market halls.
- Gare de l'Est, 500 m away — The neighbouring historic station, gateway to Alsace and Eastern Europe since 1849.