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Origin and history

The Paris-Bercy train station, now called Paris-Bercy-Bourgogne-Pays d'Auvergne, is a French railway station located in the Bercy district of the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Originally conceived as a self-train terminal in 1977, it is administratively dependent on Lyon station and serves lines to the southeast (Marseille, Toulon, Nice) and Burgundy. Its main role is to relieve congestion at Lyon station by hosting Intercités and TER services, without being served by the RER or the Transilien.

Originally, the site housed a freight station as early as 1849, linked to the warehouses of Bercy, historical for the transport of wine (20,000 wagons in 1910) and wood from Burgundy. These warehouses, declining from the 1960s onwards, were converted into a train station in the 1970s, with facilities dedicated to passenger vehicles. In 2001, it recovered the South-West autotrains after the closure of the Tolbiac terminal.

The station has undergone several major developments: in 2002, it hosts night trains to Italy and TERs to Morvan; in 2008, the saturation of the Lyon station transfers the majority of TER Burgundy and the Intercity to Nevers. In 2011, works modernize its infrastructure (heated hall, signage, shops). On December 11, 2011, it lost its international status with the end of the routes to Venice, but won TER services to Lyon.

In 2016, the station was renamed Paris-Bercy-Bourgogne-Pays d'Auvergne after requests from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Burgundy regions, highlighting the historical links of the district with these territories (rues named after Burgundy cities, former wine storage). This change has generated criticism, particularly from the FNAUT, with persistent comfort and service problems.

Since 2019, the station no longer offers self-sleeping trains, focusing on TER and Intercités. It remains accessible via the Navigo pass only for the francilian journeys to Montereau. Its facilities include counters, ticket machines, a waiting room, and shops. Its annual traffic is estimated between 2015 and 2024, reflecting its growing role in the Parisian rail network.

Bercy's warehouses, once the logistic heart of wine and wood, disappeared in 1993. Their legacy persists in local urban planning (street names) and in the current vocation of the station, linked to the wine regions. The Latil Locotractors, then the horses, once ensured the maneuvers in this site today transformed into a travel pole.

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