Parc des Expositions: station history
Served by: RER B.
Did you know?
An RER B station in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis), at kilometre point 21.010 of the Aulnay-sous-Bois to Roissy 2-RER line, belonging to SNCF. During the RER B+ Nord works an extra track was created and the side platform towards Paris became a central platform. In 2014 and 2015 the station was made accessible: the old goods lifts were replaced by three lifts serving platforms 1 and 2 and the access to the Parc des Expositions. It is the terminus of the Barreau de Gonesse bus lane, line 20, designed to foreshadow a possible RER D branch joining RER B.
Anecdote
The Paris-Nord Villepinte exhibition centre opened in 1982 and offers 246,000 m² of exhibition space. The name Villepinte comes from "Villa picta", a form recorded in a deed of the abbot of Saint-Denis Hilduin, perhaps evoking the colours of buildings. The Bignon château, known as the "château rouge", built around 1640 in the Louis XIII style, is covered with a painted render imitating bricks. The future line 17 station, designed by Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes, will be the only viaduct station on the line, with platforms 14 metres above ground.
Around Parc des Expositions
- Parc départemental du Sausset, 1000 m away — A large Seine-Saint-Denis departmental park between Villepinte and Aulnay-sous-Bois, with wide green spaces.
- Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Villepinte, 3600 m away — A building that blends several eras, in the heart of Villepinte.
- Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Le Bourget), 6500 m away — The nearest of the great French aviation sites, with Concorde and a Boeing 747 to visit.