
Front of the Gare de l'Est (during workings).
:''For the
Paris Métro stop at the Gare de l'Est, see
Gare de l'Est (Paris Métro).''
The 'Gare de l'Est' ("''East station''" in
English) is one of the six large
SNCF termini in
Paris. It is in the
Xe arrondissement, not far from the
Gare du Nord, facing the
boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by
Baron Haussmann. It is one of the largest and the oldest railway stations in Paris.
About 34 million passengers pass through the Gare de l'Est per year, making it the fifth-busiest station in Paris. Since the creation of the
RER E, it has become less congested, but it may become busier once again with the start of
LGV Est service in 2007. Currently, the station is undergoing renovation work in order to accommodate trains on the new LGV line.
At the top of the west
façade of the Gare de l'Est is a statue by the sculptor
Philippe-Joseph-Henri Lemaire, representing the city of
Strasbourg, while the east end of the station is crowned by a statue personifying
Verdun , by
Varenne. These two cities are important destinations serviced by Gare de l'Est.
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History
The Gare de l'Est was opened in
1849 by the
Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Paris à Strasbourg (the Paris-Strasbourg Railway Company) under the name "Strasbourg platform." This platform corresponds today with the hall for main-line trains, and was designed by the architect
François Duquesney. It was renamed the "Gare de l'Est" in
1854, after the expansion of service to
Mulhouse.
Renovations to the station followed in
1885 and
1900. In
1931 it was doubled in size, with the new part of the station built symmetrically with the old part. This transformation changed the surrounding neighborhood significantly.
On
4 October 1883, the Gare de l'Est saw the first departure of the
Orient Express for
Istanbul.
The Gare de l'Est is the terminus of a strategic railway network extending towards the eastern part of France, and it saw large mobilizations of French troops, most notably in
1914, at the beginning of the
World War I. In the main-line train hall, a monumental painting by
Alfred Herter, dating from
1926, illustrates the departure of these soldiers for the Western front.
SNCF has started service on service on
LGV Est Europeen from Gare de l'Est on
10 June 2007, with
TGV and
ICE service to north-eastern France, southern Germany and Switzerland. Trains are initially planned to run at 320 km/h (198 mph), with the potential to run at 350 km/h (217 mph), cutting travel times by up to 2 hours.
Transport

An
RER train at Gare de l'Est.
★ SNCF:
★
★ International service to
Luxembourg,
Germany and Central
Europe via the Orient Express.
★
★ Mainline trains servicing the eastern regions of France of
Champagne-Ardenne,
Lorraine,
Alsace.
★
★
TER service to Champagne-Ardenne.
★ Métro:
★
★ Lines
4 (Porte de Clignancourt--Porte d'
Orléans) and
5 (
Place d'Italie--
Bobigny-
Pablo Picasso): service to the Gare du Nord.
★
★ Line
7 (La Courneuve-
8 Mai 1945--Mairie d'
Ivry/
Villejuif-Louis Aragon)
Important destinations served by trains from the Gare de l'Est
See also
{{commonscat|
★
List of stations of the Paris RER
★
List of stations of the Paris Métro
★
Gare d'Austerlitz
★
Gare de Lyon
★
Gare Montparnasse
★
Gare du Nord
★
Gare Saint-Lazare