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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Occitanie
  4. Tarn-et-Garonne
  5. 82330 Varen

  6. Lexos station, in the hamlet of Lexos

Lexos station, in the hamlet of Lexos à Varen dans le Tarn-et-Garonne

Lexos station, in the hamlet of Lexos


    82330 Varen
Ownership of a State institution
Museums of France
All the classified railway heritage of France
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Gare de Lexos, au hameau de Lexos
Crédit photo : Parisdreux - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
30 août 1858
Initial commissioning
24 octobre 1864
Connection to Toulouse
années 1880
Relative decline
2006
Aborted demolition project
11 juillet 2007
Historical monument classification
2023
Recent attendance
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The facades and roofs of the passenger building, the car shed and the freight hall of the station located in the hamlet of Lexos, on the edge of the departmental road 958 (public domain, not cadastral): inscription by order of 11 July 2007

Key figures

Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO) - Historical operator Builder and initial manager of the station.
Architecte Tanzi - Builder Author of the plans approved in 1865.

Origin and history

The Lexos station, located in the eponymous hamlet on the commune of Varen (Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie), was built in the second half of the 19th century as a strategic crossroads of the railway network. Commissioned on August 30, 1858 by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO), it initially linked Montauban to Capdenac, before being connected to Toulouse in 1864. Its 17th-century neo-classical-style passenger building is distinguished by its symmetry, its brick and stone facades, and its carefully decorated courtyard side, contrasting with a linear simplicity on the dock side. The station became a major hub for freight (steel, Lexos quarries) and passengers, employing dozens of railway workers until the 1940s.

Lexos' decline began with the opening of new lines to Paris in the 1880s, reducing its importance. The station's construction site, spread between 1858 and 1883, first saw a temporary plank building (moved up in 1870), replaced by the current building, designed by architect Tanzi. The site also includes a freight hall and a car discount. Ranked a historical monument in 2007 thanks to the action of the municipality of Varen — avoiding a demolition planned by the SNCF in 2006 — the station today symbolizes the age of the railway of the region. Disused in part, it remains a TER Occitanie stop, with an increase from 4,720 travellers in 2014 to 16,520 in 2023.

Architecturally, the Lexos station illustrates the ambition of the 19th century railway companies. Its central, floor-mounted body, framed by low wings, includes classical codes (coached pillars, segmental arches with diamond keys), while its monumentality reflects its past status as a crossroads between the lines Montauban-Lexos, Carmelaux-Vindrac, and Brive-Capdenac-Toulouse. The closure of the Lexos-Montauban line and deindustrialisation have gradually marginalized the site, but its registration now protects an emblematic heritage of local steel and mining prosperity, linked to the Aubin and Decazeville basins.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum