Gare Montparnasse

Paris Montparnasse
Paris Montparnasse
	Main station concourse
General information
Location	Place Raoul-Dautry; Paris; France
Coordinates	48°50′24″N 2°19′07″E / 48.84000°N 2.31861°E
Elevation	63 m (207 ft)
Operated by	SNCF
Line(s)	LGV Atlantique; Paris–Brest railway; Paris–Granville railway;
Tracks	28
Connections	at Montparnasse–Bienvenüe; RATP Bus: 28 39 58 88 91 92 94 95 96 ; Noctilien: N01 N02 N12 N13 N61 N62 N63 N66 N145;
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Platform levels	2
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Parking station
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	87391003
Fare zone	1 (Public transport fares in the Île-de-France)
History
Opened	10 September 1840
Passengers
2022	56,862,435
Rank	4th in France
Services
	Massy TGV towards Bordeaux
	Rennes towards Brest
	Le Mans towards Rennes
	Rennes Terminus
	Massy TGV towards Toulouse
	Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV towards Poitiers
	Angers Saint-Laud towards Nantes
	Le Mans towards Nantes
	Niort towards La Rochelle
	Le Mans towards Saint-Malo
	Rennes towards Quimper
	Massy TGV towards Nantes
	Saint-Pierre-des-Corps towards Bordeaux
	Bordeaux towards Toulouse
Connections to other stations

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

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.^[3]

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,^[4] 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.^[5]^[6] In 1969, the old station was demolished 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.

The Gare Montparnasse became famous for the derailment on 22 October 1895 of the Granville–Paris Express, which overran the buffer stop. The engine careened 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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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
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 - Laval - Rennes
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:

Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

Nearby station:

Pasteur

References

^ "Plan pour les voyageurs en fauteuil roulant" [Map for travelers in wheelchairs] (PDF). Île-de-France Mobilités (in French and British English). 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
^ "Fréquentation en gares" [Attendance at stations]. SNCF (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
^ Train Wreck Replica, retrieved 4 March 2009
^ Musee Orsay, retrieved 9 July 2009
^ Rebuilding a Paris Terminus Modern Railways issue 213 June 1966 pages 320-322
^ Paris Montparnasse rebuilt Modern Railways issue 250 July 1969 page 375
^ Danger Ahead, retrieved 4 March 2009
^ Let's pause for a station break on Failure Magazine
^ The Trainwreck Industry Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 4 March 2009

External links

Gare Montparnasse at Transilien, the official website of SNCF (in French)
Gare Montparnasse at "Gares & Connexions", the official website of SNCF (in French)
Gare Montparnasse – current photographs and of the years 1900.
Satellite image from Google Maps
Mundo a Vapor Museum The Brazilian museum which contains the 1895 derailment accident replica.

[idfm-ufr-map-1] "Plan pour les voyageurs en fauteuil roulant" [Map for travelers in wheelchairs] (PDF). Île-de-France Mobilités (in French and British English). 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

[2] "Fréquentation en gares" [Attendance at stations]. SNCF (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2024.

[3] Train Wreck Replica, retrieved 4 March 2009

[4] Musee Orsay, retrieved 9 July 2009

[5] Rebuilding a Paris Terminus Modern Railways issue 213 June 1966 pages 320-322

[6] Paris Montparnasse rebuilt Modern Railways issue 250 July 1969 page 375

[7] Danger Ahead, retrieved 4 March 2009

[8] Let's pause for a station break on Failure Magazine

[9] The Trainwreck Industry Archived 9 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 4 March 2009

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