Reportage
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Since 2023, the disused station of Niolon, a cove northwest of Marseille, has been transformed into a hostel run by people with mental disabilities. An ambitious project imagined by parents eager to offer interesting professional prospects to their children.
When we opened our eyes that morning, we realized that we had been woken from our sleep by two simultaneous events: the whistle of the first train to stop and the arrival of the sun in the shutters. Unusually, we had just spent the night in a train station. More precisely, in a cozy bed installed on the top floor of the old Niolon station, on the aptly named Côte Bleue, north of Marseille. Although trains still stop there, the SNCF premises had long remained unoccupied. Since 2023, they have been living their second life: they have become the Train Inc Café, a rural inn offering food and guest rooms. Led by the T’Cap 21 collective, which brings together parents of people with Down syndrome, the third place is an adapted company that trains and employs people with mental disabilities.
It’s breakfast time and we sit outside, near the permaculture vegetable garden next to the building. There we meet Ilian, 22, who brings us pastries, toast and coffee on a large tray.. “Ah but I forgot the jam!” he exclaims, scanning the table before turning on his heels, eager to correct his mistake. In the distance, we see the young man, like a fish in water, striding through the inn, between the 500m² garden and the room overlooking the station platform. In the kitchen today, it is Youssef and Najoa Boughanemi, his
