Neither the Covid-19 nor the hostility of the City of Paris will have had the skin of the Gare du Nord transformation project. At least for now. The prefect of Ile-de-France Michel Cadot has indeed, this Monday, issued the building permit for this controversial project which aims to practically double, by 2024, the surface of the first station in Europe in number of travelers welcomed.
"The works will be launched without delay according to the principles of an exemplary site and respecting the sanitary conditions imposed by COVID", announced SA Gare du Nord 2024, company carrying out the project bringing together Ceetrus (Auchan subsidiary) and the SNCF.
Despite this context of health crisis, SA Gare du Nord 2024 says that it is "confident that the timetable will be respected so that the new Gare du Nord will be more ecological, more comfortable and more united at the end of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games" .
18,900 square meters of additional shops
The Gare du Nord currently welcomes 700,000 travelers per day in transit from Eurostar, Thalys, TGV, Intercités, TER and many suburban trains, RER and metros. A figure that should rise to 900,000 by 2030.
The Gare du Nord 2024 project aims to better manage these enormous flows, by reorganizing the station with "more direct routes" between the surface and the underground parts, "a hundred new elevators and escalators" and "access times to improved trains, "promises Gare du Nord 2024." The spaces dedicated to traffic and waiting will see their size double, "says one.
The station surface will decrease from 75,000 m² to 136,000 m². In particular, several additional levels will be added above the suburban part of the current station. It is by these levels that we will access in 2024 the main line platforms, the central hall being reserved for exits.
Part of the controversy lies in this route which would require travelers to pass by the new shopping center erected at this location. Among the new spaces, 27% of shops, 25% of restaurants, 25% of coworking spaces and offices are planned, and 23% of areas dedicated to sports, cultures and leisure.
A 1 hectare park
Gare du Nord 2024 defends itself by recalling that the 18,900 m² of shops will be "3 to 4 times smaller than those located in other Parisian places such as Les Halles, Italie 2 or Beaugrenelle". The other Parisian stations like Saint-Lazare, Montparnasse or soon Austerlitz will have a lot of shops as well, without being the subject of so much criticism.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
Another criticism of the project: its anti-ecological dimension, according to some architects and urban planners. Gare du Nord 2024, on the contrary, promises economical buildings, 70% of supplies by renewable energies, 25% of water needs covered by rainwater, the creation of a park of more than one hectare, zero waste and zero waste and 3000 bicycle spaces.
All this, however, is far from convincing opponents of the project. At the forefront of which is the City of Paris, which is only consulted on this subject carried by the State, owner of the Station via the SNCF, and financed 100% by the private investor.
The City of Paris remains upwind against the project
During the public inquiry from November to January last, and after the unanimous favorable opinion of the commission of inquiry, the City of Paris had not failed to express its opposition, including during the campaign, to a project that Anne Hidalgo had nevertheless supported at its launch two years ago.
Under the aegis of Prefect Cadot, negotiations opened in the spring to amend the project. "The negotiations did not succeed," laments Alexandra Cordebard, PS mayor of the 10th arrondissement. "This is a strong move by the prefect, a very strong political attack on the new mayor of Paris. Our response will be up to par, ”she promises. The soap opera may not be finished.
