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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Gare du Nord, located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, was inaugurated in 1846 by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord as the embankment of the Paris-Lille line. Originally designed by Léonce Reynaud, its stone façade was dismantled in 1860 and rebuilt in Lille, while a new station, three times larger, was built between 1861 and 1865 under the direction of architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff. This neoclassical, U-shaped building is inspired by Roman triumphal arches and includes 23 statues representing the cities served, including Paris, London and Amsterdam. The cast iron columns, made in Scotland and France, support an imposing glass roof, marking the entrance of the railway into the capital.

From its opening, the Gare du Nord became an international crossroads, serving Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Its traffic exploded with the Universal Exhibition of 1889, from 13 to 28 tracks in 1900. The annex station, built for tramway trains and the Little Belt, is now occupied by a post office. In the 20th century, it underwent major modernisations: electrification in 1958, creation of an underground station for the RER (1977–1982), and arrival of the TGV Nord (1993) and then of the Eurostar (1994). These transformations segment spaces into dedicated areas (international, main lines, suburbs, RER), with separate windows and access.

The Gare du Nord is also an architectural and cultural symbol. Its façade, which was listed as a Historic Monument in 1975, was restored between 2008 and 2010, while its interiors evolved with commercial spaces, VIP lounges (signed Philippe Starck in 2004) and contemporary art works, such as Liam Gillick's frescoes (2015). Despite social challenges (riots in 2007, insecurity), it remains a major multimodal hub, connecting metro (lines 4, 5, 2), RER (B, D, E), Transilien (H, K), and bus, with a record 292.5 million passengers in 2018 (including RER and metro).

His historical role extends to cinema (Amélie Poulain, Ocean Recent projects (2018–2024) aim to modernize its 110 000 m2 (compared to 36 000 m2 initially), with green spaces, solar panels and a revamped bus station, despite the abandonment in 2021 of the giant shopping centre project. The Gare du Nord thus embodies the evolution of transport, combining industrial heritage, technical innovations and contemporary urban issues.

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