Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City (2020)

Paris Train Stations: Shaping the City

2020

Documentary TV Movie

Synopsis

Every day, Paris’ six railway stations welcome over 3,000 trains and more than a million travelers coming from France and all over Europe. The stations’ sizes are impressive: Gare du Nord is bigger than the Louvre or Notre-Dame de Paris. These railway stations are architectural landmarks and a model of urban planning despite the radical changes they’ve undergone since their construction in the middle of the 19th century. How did the railway stations manage to absorb the boom of travelers in just a few decades? What colossal works were necessary to erect and then modify these now essential buildings? From the monumental glass walls of Gare du Nord to the iconic tower of Gare de Lyon, to the first-ever all-electric train station, each has its own story, technical characteristics, and well-defined urban image.

Credits

Director

Constance de Guernon

Cast

Bertrand Lemoine as Self - Engineer and architect

Clive Lamming as Self - Railway historian

Didier Leroy as Self - Railway historian

Étienne Riot as Self - Urbanism researcher

François Loyer as Self - Heritage historian

Georges Ribeill as Self - Sociologist and railway historian

Julien Bocher as Narrator (voice)

Marc Le Cœur as Self - Architecture historian