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Origin and history

Senlis station, inaugurated in 1862 by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord, was a standard model designed by engineer Lejeune, similar to that of Chantilly-Gouvieux. It initially served the Chantilly-Senlis line, extended to Crépy-en-Valois in 1870, thus linking Paris to Soissons. This railway node played a key role for local travellers and freight transport, with stops like Vineuil or Aumont.

During the First World War, the station was burned by German troops on September 2, 1914, in retaliation for local resistance. Rather than reconstructing identically, the Company opted for a new building entrusted to Gustave Umbdenstock and Urban Cassan. The present building, completed in 1922, breaks with railway standards by its neo-regionalist style inspired by the Flemish Renaissance, integrating bricks, stone, and a clock arrow signed Truth.

The railway station gradually lost its use: closed to passengers in 1950 and then to freight in the 1990s, notably because of the LGV Nord. Disused, it became a bus station before being acquired by the city in 2004. Since 2007, it has been home to an employment home, while remaining protected as historical monuments since 2001. Its parvis retains a multimodal function in the developing eco-neighbourhood.

Architecturally, the station is distinguished by its mixed masonry (brick/stone), its campanile without bell tower, and its interior decorations in mosaic and wrought iron (lanterns by Lerolle). Senlis's weapons and motto, added in 1920, adorn the facade, while the clock and the "Flemish style" skylights highlight its regional anchor. The article by L-Architecture (1923) salutes this "artistic station", praising its harmony with the local heritage.

The railway line, originally designed to clear Senlis, was gradually abandoned: 1938 for passenger traffic to Chantilly, 1950 to Crépy, then 1991 for freight, sealing the end of its railway role. Today, the site, public property, symbolizes both the industrial history of Oise and the urban changes, between heritage memory and functional conversion.

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