MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom

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society
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Complex worlds…
Although new stations are being built, such
as those along high-speed tracks, the great
majority of French stations were designed
and built according to a model of organisation
dating from the nineteenth century. Adding
on twenty-fi rst century services to this model
is not easy. The paradox of rail is that
it is a service industry which requires, right
in the city centre, the production processes
of heavy industry – track equipment,
train depots, etc. – most of which also date
from the nineteenth century and require large
areas of space. “Modernising a station
to provide fl uid and functional operations
is incredibly complex in spatial engineering
terms,” states Sophie Boissard.
“This was the case with the Gare de Lyon,
in Paris, where installing supply warehouses
in the Charolais district required
the conversion of former underground freight
warehouses into cooking preparation
centres.” When one talks about a station,
the public often thinks of rails, electric cables,
etc., but all this is in fact ‘only’ the rail
infrastructure. The architect’s approach
must be much wider, because the station,
along with the train’s interior, is one of
the two places where the passenger spends
time, places that they assess in terms
of comfort, atmosphere, service, and so on.
It is therefore necessary to work
The typology of French stations
simultaneously on these two complementary
worlds to increase their quality. This is a global
process in which rail builders, operators
and infrastructure managers are all concerned.
It is the role of Gares & Connexions to create
a systemic vision which federates these
different actors. The entity was created by
the SNCF, in 2009, to master the inherent
complexity of the station world.
Renovating a station becomes complicated
when distinct traffi c fl ows are superimposed.
“The Gare Paris-Nord, with its 180 million
passengers each year, is an excellent
example. It is distinguished by a very wide
rail offer which includes the Eurostar
(dedicated terminal, customs post…),
the Thalys and the TGV Nord (which require
services for passengers who are mainly
business travellers), commuters who travel
to work on the regional lines of the Paris
area and the Ile-de-France (TER Picardie,
Corail Intercités…). In addition, underground,
there is the metro and the RER and,
on the surface, individual forms
of end of journey transport: taxis,
limousines or hire cars, the Vélib’* bicycle,
electric vehicles… And in the middle of all this,
constantly developing ticket sales space,
shops and service areas.” For the
Managing Director of Gares & Connexions,
successfully increasing the capacity
to welcome passengers in a listed building
full of constraints of all kinds, including �
French stations are divided into 4 categories:
• Major hubs served by the European rail network: 33 stations corresponding
to the main French cities plus 6 huge Paris stations each receiving an average
of 30 to 50 million passengers per year.
• Stations on the high-speed network and conventional mainlines:
about 90 stations.
• Commuter stations: about 390 stations in the Ile-de-France,
such as Versailles-Chantiers or Juvisy, which have a throughput
of 20 to 30 million passengers per year.
• Lastly, about 2,500 stations providing access to different categories
of network (regional and, by connections, national or international).
These include between 100 and 300 stations with substantial traffi c levels.
* Velib: Paris’ cycle hire scheme.