Little by little, the projects concerning the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are coming to fruition. This Tuesday, the first phase of modernization of the Gare du Nord (10th arrondissement) was completed with the inauguration of the works carried out to facilitate the transit of travelers and promote intermodality, in particular thanks to a huge bicycle parking lot, in view of the Games.
“In addition to the Olympic venues, the Gare du Nord is for me the main strategic location of the competition because it will serve a huge number of sites” during the fortnight from July 26 to August 11, insisted the CEO of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou , during the inauguration ceremony.
Smoother journeys, more visible information
After two years of work, the routes have been “smoothed and simplified” in the busiest station in Europe with 700,000 passengers per day, thanks to larger and brighter signage.
The information screens have been completely renewed and the connections between the “Main Lines” station and the underground station which leads to the RER and the metro have been simplified thanks to new stairs.
The largest secure bicycle parking lot in Ile-de-France
The taxi space has been reorganized and “the largest secure bicycle parking in the Ile-de-France” has been built, according to SNCF Gares et Connexions. It houses 1,186 spaces, in a large hall installed under solar panels, which makes the facility self-sufficient in electricity.
This renovation, begun two years ago, was decided after the abandonment of a much more ambitious program which included the expansion of the station and the installation of new businesses, but considered pharaonic and disconnected from its urban environment by elected officials and associations.
A cost of 50 million euros
The project was definitively abandoned when SNCF broke the concession contract linking it with Ceetrus, the Auchan property company, accused of having let prices drift and not meeting deadlines.
The current project cost 50 million euros.
What remains is “the second phase of modernization” of this station, “very focused on Great Britain and northern Europe”, indicated the general director of SNCF Gares et Connexions, Marlène Dolveck.
Two new major projects in 2027 and 2032
Two new phases must be completed in 2027 and 2032 to adapt the station to the increase in passenger flows, particularly at the cross-Channel hall.
“The future is a Gare du Nord which will welcome one million passengers per day in 2030,” underlined the president of the Ile-de-France Mobilités transport authority (IDFM), Valérie Pécresse.
“I would like us to make it our mission to simplify ticketing in the autumn,” she added, pointing out that she has “still seen a few too many queues at the ticket machines”, while many spectators of the Games will arrive in France via the Gare du Nord.
