Covid or not Covid, the Val-de-Fontenay station is never empty.
If it is a little less crowded than before the pandemic and the development of teleworking, the influx at rush hour is still a source of concern here.
"The platforms are often not wide enough in the morning, and it grows on the stairs, it's everyone for his apple," said this Thursday Paola, 48, who is one of the many travelers passing through this station.
Every day, up to 115,000 people flock here, making this station the first in eastern Paris in terms of the number of travelers.
"If we do nothing, there will be tragedies," says Alexandre, who is always careful not to stay away from the edge of the quay.
Long-awaited, the changes will take place and travelers are invited to express themselves well in advance.
The public inquiry into the Val-de-Fontenay station hub redevelopment project (
http://www.reamenagement-gare-val-de-fontenay.fr
)
begins this Friday.
Until May 26, everyone will be able to give their opinion and put forward their expectations on this major issue.
115% more travelers by 2035
If a big upheaval is going to take place, it is because this often congested sector will be enriched with new transport offers.
Today served by the RER A and E, but also by seven bus lines during the day and two Noctilien, the places will see the users of Tram T1, of the Bords de Marne bus, of the metro line 1, tumbling down in a few years. from the 15 of the Grand Paris Express and the RER E extended to the west.
Consequence: "By 2035, attendance at the Val-de-Fontenay station hub will increase by 115%", is it underlined on the dedicated website by Ile-de-France Mobilités, which announces the start of works for the first half of 2022.
To read also Fontenay: the station of line 15 is on the rails
The layout and operation of the station will therefore be completely redesigned.
The railway perimeter of the project, inside the station, will see the construction of several passenger buildings.
The one located to the northeast will be fitted out to facilitate access to the RER A and E RERs.
Dedicated accesses will be created via new underground passages.
They will connect to metro lines 1 and 15 and the T1 tramway, as well as the Alouettes and Péripôle Nord districts.
The south-east building will serve as the gateway to a new underground passage, which will pass under the RER A.
Improved readability and safety on the platforms
"We fought to obtain this underground which will connect the districts located on either side of these tracks", indicates Jean-Philippe Gautrais (FG), the mayor of Fontenay-sous-Bois, who considers this station "obsolete and dangerous, because no longer adapted to the number of travelers.
"
Here are the developments planned by Ile-de-France mobilités as part of the Val-de-Fontenay pole-station project, subject to public inquiry from this Friday.
LP / Computer Graphics LP / Computer Graphics
Existing spaces will experience their share of redevelopment.
This will be the case for the RER A and E platforms, with a view to better readability and enhanced security, but also that of the historic passenger building, to the west.
Requalified, this structure will be more open to the city and to the new underground passage under the RER E. The surroundings of the three accesses to the station will also be reviewed, as will be the bus hub, which will also be developed.
"It is in fact the whole district which will evolve with these works at the station", underlines Abel, a young inhabitant of Fontenay-sous-Bois crossed in front of walls protruding from the ground, not far from the railway structure.
Cranes and trucks are currently being mobilized to grow buildings in this sector, which is expected to attract even more people than at present.
Around the station, already other works
For one of these projects, we are talking in particular of "50,000 square meters of offices and 120 homes", specifies Jean-Philippe Gautrais, who also highlights the upcoming installation of Bpifrance (public investment bank).
The link between the pole-station project, the development of the economic pole and the planning of the city is obvious.
"We are talking here about ten to fifteen years of work", calculates the elected.
Young workers, Floriane and Adrien consider all this necessary.
“We settled here for this station and it's great that it is evolving with the entire neighborhood, they appreciate.
But it will be in several years, we will probably no longer be there to take advantage of it.
"
