Gare du Nord will be ready to welcome the 2024 Olympics

The rail journey into Paris Gare du Nord has been giving travellers their first view of La Ville Lumière for 172 years. It is an introduction to the city which has been totally transformed since the station’s first platform was completed in 1846. And it is now experienced daily by thousands of international visitors from Britain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands arriving on Eurostar and Thalys, as well as by French travellers and commuters arriving on TGV, regional trains or by underground. By 2024, the experience will be transformed once again with the major renovation of Gare du Nord in time for the Paris Olympics.

Early July, the French railways, SNCF Gares & Connexions, which manages the stations, and Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, announced the start of negotiations with CEETRUS, the retail estate developer, to carry out this historic project. Investment is expected to be €600 million. Gare du Nord, already the largest station in Europe, will triple in size to 110,000 square metres by the time the Olympics arrive, becoming a new and modern gateway to Paris and a retail and cultural destination in its own right. By 2030, we expect passenger numbers to reach 900,000 per day.

Paris-Nord transformation is the crux of our “City Booster” philosophy.

I do not call this a historic project lightly. It is a huge transformation, similar in ambition to the first renovation of Gare du Nord in 1864. The new departure terminal will reinterpret the famous 19th century Haussmanian concept of the “passage parisien”, with a gallery 18 metres tall by 300 metres wide. Connections between transport modes will become more fluid. And, in the most symbolic transformation of all, we will adapt the station to accommodate sports and cultural facilities, including the first-ever 1km running track across the Parisian rooftops.

Paris-Nord transformation is the crux of our “City Booster” philosophy. Across the world, rail stations are now the symbols of the 21st century city and act not just as transport hubs but as cultural and economic catalysts for the neighbourhoods that host them. With CEETRUS, we have found a partner and an economic model which will allow us to improve the transport experience, meet the highest environmental standards and support the development of rail freight. But the new Gare du Nord is more than this: it will boost the cultural and economic dynamism of the area that surrounds it.

We have proposed a 2,000 square metre European academy of culture, for example, to celebrate the arts on giant screens. There will be a vast new venue built for hosting events and concerts. We will devote half the space in the station to restaurants, services and shops. And perhaps most eye-catching of all is the running track on the roof of the station. A world-first, it demonstrates the importance SNCF places on encouraging sports activities in our busy urban lives. Other facilities will include basketball courts, a golf course, a nursery and 5,500 square metres of co-working space managed by WeWork.

Let’s not forget the transport improvements, too. In close consultation with the city of Paris, the Paris Metro and local authorities, we will optimise the interchanges between urban and long-distance trains. An expanded Eurostar terminal will feature a new customs control area. And access to the station will be improved with new escalators, a bus station, metrolinks and a new façade on Rue Faubourg Saint-Denis. I can’t emphasise enough how much of a revolution this represents in Gare du Nord’s history.

Of course, it is an ambitious plan and we cannot achieve it alone. As with our other major train station renovations, we will have partners, such as Valode & Pistre, who will design the station in close cooperation with the architecture teams of SNCF Gares & Connexion and AREP. CEETRUS, for its part, will bring us its technical expertise and financial support. Our partnership will see the creation of a commonly-held corporation which will be 34% owned by SNCF Gares & Connexions and 66% owned by CEETRUS.

This project company will exist for between 35 and 46 years and will be responsible for carrying out the work and then managing the shops in the station. It will do this in exchange for a fee paid by the retailers. During this period, it will be the occupant, but not the owner, of the station’s retail areas. Afterwards, 100% of the realised works will return to SNCF Gares & Connexions. If retail revenues outperform the forecast then SNCF, as a shareholder of the one-project company, will receive additional revenues in the form of dividends, to the benefit of the entire railway network. 

This is an excellent deal. The model combines the expertise of an economic operator – financing capacity, construction, commercialisation, societal responsibility – with the unmatched station management expertise of SNCF Gares & Connexions. It means that 100% of financing is provided by the economic operator, while we remain in charge of the general interest of the station. In this way, the project does not add to SNCF’s total indebtedness, yet retains its long-term assets as we make Gare du Nord fit for the 21st century.

Each time we transform a train station in Paris, we transform part of a Parisian neighbourhood. Our plan will see Gare du Nord become an international showcase for France in the heart of the city. Tripling the size of the station for the 2024 Olympics is a huge challenge which we are undertaking with great determination and pride. And we know that in doing so we will be shaping first impressions of Paris for new generations of travellers.