Saint-Michel-sur-Orge: station history
Served by: RER C.
Did you know?
An Essonne station on the Paris-Austerlitz to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean line, at kilometre point 28.047, at 66 metres altitude, between Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and Brétigny, served by RER C. The station was put into service by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans when its 102 km Juvisy to Orléans line opened to traffic. In 1858, a "Saint-Michel" station is mentioned 29 km from the departure station, serving a village of 1,700 people; Adolphe Joanne cites it again in 1868, with "vast workshops" of the PO company and omnibuses connecting to Marcoussis and Montlhéry.
Anecdote
Saint-Michel-sur-Orge lies on the Orge, a 54.1 km river mentioned as Urbia in the 6th century. At Saint-Michel-sur-Orge, several structures regulate its floods: the Saint-Michel/Longpont basin (1980, 180,000 m³) and the bois des Roches and gendarmerie basins (1986, 34,000 m³). The 6 km stretch between Longpont, Saint-Michel, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and Épinay-sur-Orge served as a test for removing weir gates, to restore ecological continuity. The station has a Transilien ticket office, and at night Noctilien line N131 serves it.
Around Saint-Michel-sur-Orge
- Basilique Notre-Dame de Bonne-Garde de Longpont, 2900 m away — A former Cluniac priory and Marian pilgrimage site at Longpont-sur-Orge.
- Tour de Montlhéry, 4000 m away — A medieval keep overlooking the Orge valley, at Montlhéry.