Paris Gare du Nord will be transformed and tripled in size, real estate developer Ceetrus and SNCF Mobilités announced. The renovations are set to be completed in 2024, right before the Olympics are held in the French capital. The station will gain space to practice sports and focus on connecting several modes of transportation such as bikes and buses to the trains. The budget is expected to be around 600 million Euros.

According to SNCF and Ceetrus, this renovation is essential to meet the needs of growth of rail transport activities, which will most likely be boosted because the track will be open to competition as voted for by the French Parliament in June 2018.

700 thousand passengers

The transformation includes the build of a new departure terminal to improve passenger flow. The Eurostar terminal will be expanded. Accessibility for all passengers will be improved by adding lifts and escalators. The surface of the station will increase threefold from 36,000 square meters to 110,000 square meters. Gare du Nord already is the largest train station in Europe: 700 thousand passengers travel through this station each day. SNCF expects this number to increase to 900 thousand passengers per day by 2030.

This is because of the expected developments in all of SNCF Mobilités transport activities, such as long-distance travel and Eurostar. Furthermore, the opening of the Charles De Gaulle Express line which connects the airport at Gare de l’Est will increase the activities of Gare du Nord.

Transformation

Ceetrus and architect Denis Valode of Valode et Pistre architects will lead the transformation. The new departure terminal will ‘reinterpret’ the 19th-century Parisian passageway in the style of Haussman with a gallery of 18 meters wide and nearly 300 meters in length to offer an array of service and commercial functions.

The renovation will also focus on connecting the different modes of transportation. The bus terminal will be ‘reinvented’, and space for 1,200 bikes will be created. The roads around the station will be redesigned, taking into account the expected development of electric and autonomous transportation.

What stands out is the fact that the station will feature a lot of space to practice sports activities, ‘in line with the changes in society’, SNCF says. It will have a track with a length of one kilometre on the roofs, a sports hall, public locker rooms and other sports equipment.

Environment

The new Gare du Nord will also set environmentally-friendly standards, offering public green spaces and ecological energy production. The design, construction and use of the station will respect strict environmental regulations and standards.

The negotiations are set to be concluded at the end of 2018. SNCF Gares and Connexions and Ceetrus are expected to carry out the expansion project and its commercial exploitation over a period of 35 to 46 years. According to the schedule, renovations must begin in July of 2019 and finish in June 2023.