La Défense (Grande Arche): station history
Served by: RER A, Transilien L and U.
Did you know?
The transport hub of the business district, bringing together the RER A station, designed by the architect Henri Vicariot, the SNCF station for Transilien lines L and U, the T2 tram stop, the line 1 metro station and a bus station. A second station, served by RER E, opened with the westward extension of the line; it is built under the CNIT, 32 or 36 metres deep, with a 225-metre central platform, at a cost of 354 million euros.
Anecdote
When the Seine departmental council asked for a station at the La Défense crossroads, the railway company refused, judging that the district did not generate enough passengers. A temporary station served the Floralies exhibition, with no trains stopping in normal service. The permanent station was covered by a concrete slab in 1976. The station appears in the film « Calmos » (1976) by Bertrand Blier, in which Jean Rochefort boards an all-women bus. The RER E station has three exits, one of them in the CNIT, called « La faille ».
Around La Défense (Grande Arche)
- Grande Arche de la Défense, 90 m away — A monumental cube opened in 1989, large enough for Notre-Dame cathedral to fit beneath its central opening.