Modernization work is underway in most of the Parisian stations.
The idea is to prepare them for the increase in passenger traffic expected on the networks and to make them more “attractive” in the perspective of the 2024 Olympic Games. But these major projects are not at the same level of progress.
A forest of scaffolding at the Gare d'Austerlitz
For the moment, the 13th arrondissement station is not the most frequented by travelers in Parisian stations ... And that's good, since it is certainly the most congested by the footprints of the construction site.
Starting with the renovation and plumbing of the “GHV”, the Grande Halle Voyageurs dating from the 19th century, which has been literally covered with a forest of scaffolding since 2018.
The redevelopment of this historic hall, interrupted due to lead pollution problems, has been delayed and should not be completed for several years.
The very controversial construction project, next to the railway hall, of a huge building including offices, housing and shops could also accumulate delays due to the opposition that it raises.
The project, carried by the SNCF and private partners, must in principle be delivered in 2025. Before the ramp-up of the station to 21 million annual users whose attendance could double by 2030!
The Gare de Lyon is looking good for the 2024 Olympics
As soon as the renovation work is completed on one side of the station, a new site opens on the other.
Simultaneously with the recent end of the upgrading and upgrading work on the “Chalons” wing of the station which began in 2014, a large area of hall 1 has just been covered with scaffolding and has been closed to the public. .
In question: the launch of the repair site of the more than one hundred year old glass roof of the “small passenger hall”.
These works to enhance the historic heritage of the SNCF, scheduled over 3 years, will in principle be completed just before the reception of the Olympic Games in the capital.
At least four years of work at the Gare du Nord
This is the record of all the superlatives ... and all the criticisms.
As its name suggests, the “Gare du Nord 2024” project, carried by a public-private consortium bringing together SNCF and a subsidiary of Auchan, provided for an expansion, modernization and metamorphosis of the first station in Europe in the horizon… 2024, for the Games in Paris.
But the gigantism of the file (initially estimated at 600 million euros, the site could finally reach one billion) and the multiple oppositions to this project considered too commercial have forced the planners to revise their plans downwards and to modify the initial work schedule.
Sketch of the Gare du Nord by 2024, including the modifications made following an agreement with the City of Paris, and the removal of a floor and a half on the new building (on the left).
DR
For the time being, only a few exterior improvements on the bus terminus at the site where the future station building is to be built have started. But Bouygues, which won the “Gare du Nord 2024” contract, has so far not launched any heavy work indoors. And it is already a certainty: they will not materially be able to all be finished for the games. The giant project will last (at least) until 2025.