Gare Montparnasse

Gare Montparnasse (French pronunciation: ​[ɡaʁ mɔ̃paʁnas]; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, is one of the six large Paris railway termini, located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements.

Paris-Montparnasse
Montparnasse station inside
LocationPlace Raoul-Dautry, 75015 Paris
France
Coordinates48°50′24″N 2°19′07″E
Elevation63 m (207 ft)
Owned bySNCF Réseau
Operated bySNCF
Line(s)LGV Atlantique
Paris–Brest railway
Paris–Granville railway
Platforms28
Other information
Station code87391003 / 87391102 (Vaugirard)
Fare zone1 (Public transport fares in the Île-de-France)
History
Opened10 September 1840
Passengers
201854.8 million
Rank6th in France
Services
Preceding station   SNCF   Following station
TerminusTGV
toward Tours
toward Bordeaux
toward Brest
toward Rennes
Terminus
toward Toulouse
toward Poitiers
toward Nantes
toward Nantes
toward La Rochelle
toward Saint-Malo
toward Quimper
OUIGO
Massy TGV
toward Rennes
Massy TGV
toward Nantes
Intercités
toward Granville
Transilien
TER Normandie
toward Granville
toward Le Mans
TER Centre-Val de Loire 3.2Terminus
Connections to other stations
Preceding station   Paris Métro   Following station
toward Nation

The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to a new station just south of the original location — where subsequently the prominent Montparnasse Tower was constructed. It is a central element to the Montparnasse area. The original station is noted for the Montparnasse derailment, where a steam train crashed through the station in 1895, an event captured in widely known photographs — and reproduced in full scale in several locations.[1]

The station serves intercity TGV trains to the west and southwest of France including Tours, Bordeaux, Rennes and Nantes, and suburban and regional services on the Transilien Paris – Montparnasse routes. There is also a metro station. Gare Montparnasse is the only mainline terminus in Paris not directly connected to the RER system, though the Montparnasse main line is connected to the RER at Versailles-Chantiers and the LGV Atlantique at Massy Palaiseau.

History

The station opened in 1840 as Gare de l'Ouest,[2] later being renamed. A second station was built between 1848 and 1852.

On 25 August 1944, the German military governor of Paris, General von Choltitz, surrendered his garrison to the French General Philippe Leclerc at the old station. (see Liberation of Paris).

During the 1960s, a newer station integrated into a complex of office buildings was built further down the track. In 1969, the old station was torn down and the Tour Montparnasse built on its site. An extension was built in 1990 to host the TGV Atlantique.

  • Concourse of the station
  • Platform of the station

1895 derailment
Granville–Paris Express wreck on 22 October 1895.
Main article: Montparnasse derailment

The Gare Montparnasse became famous for the derailment on 22 October 1895, of the Granville–Paris Express, which overran the buffer stop. The engine careered across almost 30 metres (100 ft) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60-centimetre (2 ft) thick wall, shot across a terrace and smashed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below, where it stood on its nose. Two of the 131 passengers sustained injuries, along with the fireman and two conductors. The only fatality was a woman on the street below, Marie-Augustine Aguilard, who was temporarily taking over her husband's work duty while he went out to get the newspapers. She was killed by falling masonry.[3] The railway company later paid for her funeral and provided a pension to look after her two children. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine driver, who was trying to make up lost time.[4] A conductor was given a 25-franc fine and the engine driver a 50-franc fine.

Replicas of the train crash are recreated outside the Mundo a Vapor ("Steam World") museum chain buildings in Brazil, in the southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, in the city of Canela.[5]

Train services

From Paris Montparnasse train services depart to major French cities such as: Le Mans, Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Brest, Saint-Malo, Vannes, Lorient, Quimper, Angers, Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Tours, Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne and Granville. The station is also served by suburban trains heading to the west and south-west of Paris.

  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Lourdes – Tarbes
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Bayonne – Biarritz – Hendaye – Irun
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Agen – Toulouse
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Arcachon
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours – Poitiers – Angoulême – Bordeaux
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Poitiers – La Rochelle
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes – St Brieuc – Brest
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Vannes – Lorient – Quimper
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Rennes – St Malo
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Nantes – St-Nazaire – Le Croisic
  • High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Angers – Nantes
  • Discount High Speed Services (Ouigo TGV) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) - Poitiers - Saint-Pierre-des-Corps- Angoulême - Bordeaux
  • Discount High Speed Services (Ouigo TGV) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) - Le Mans
  • Discount High Speed Services (Ouigo TGV) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) - Le Mans - Laval - Rennes
  • Intercity services (Intercités) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) – Dreux – Argentan – Granville
  • Regional Services (TER Normandie) Paris (Vaugirard.Montparnesse Hall 3) to Granville with numerous stops
  • Regional services (TER Centre) Paris – Versailles – Rambouillet – Chartres – Le Mans
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – St-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Rambouillet
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir – Dreux
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir – Mantes-la-Jolie
  • Regional services (Transilien) Paris – Versailles – Plaisir
  • Map
  • Aerial view

Lines serving this station

Adjacent metro station:

Nearby station:

See also

References
  1. Train Wreck Replica, retrieved 4 March 2009
  2. Musee Orsay, retrieved 9 July 2009
  3. Danger Ahead, retrieved 4 March 2009
  4. Let's pause for a station break on Failure Magazine
  5. The Trainwreck Industry Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 4 March 2009
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