Gare Montparnasse

Infobox Station
name= Gare de Paris-Montparnasse
type= Train


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image_caption= Montparnasse exterior
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line= TGV Atlantique
Corail Intercités
TER Centre and Basse Normandie
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opened= 10 September 1840
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owned= RFF / SNCF
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passengers= 50 million
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The Gare Montparnasse is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris, located in the Montparnasse area, in the XIVe arrondissement.

The station is used for the intercity TGV trains to destinations in the west and south-west of France including Tours, Bordeaux, Rennes and Nantes. Additionally, it is served by several suburban and regional services on the Transilien Paris – Montparnasse routes. There is also a metro station, and a high-speed moving sidewalk. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm Walkway propels Paris metro into future] - BBC article on the high-speed travelator]

History

The original station opened in 1840. A second station was built between 1848 and 1852.

The Gare Montparnasse became famous for a derailment on 22 October 1895 of the Granville-Paris Express that overran the buffer stop. The engine careened across almost convert|30|m|ft|0|lk=on off the station concourse, crashed through a convert|60|cm|in|0|lk=on|adj=on thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes convert|10|m|ft|0 below, where it stood on its nose. All on board the train survived, five sustaining injuries: two passengers, the fireman and two crewmembers; however, one woman on the street below was killed by falling masonry. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine drivers who were trying to make up for lost time. [ [http://www.failuremag.com/arch_history_train_wreck.html Let's pause for a station brake] on Failure Magazine] The conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty; he was also sent to prison for two months.

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 train station, after disobeying Adolf Hitler's direct order to destroy the city (see Liberation of Paris).

During the 1960s, a newer station integrated into a complex of office buildings was built. In 1969, the old station was torn down and the Tour Montparnasse built on its spot. An extension was built in 1990 to host the TGV Atlantique.

Popular culture

The picture of the locomotive standing on its nose appears on the cover of the album "Lean into It" from the hard rock band Mr. Big.

The story of the train crash and the picture feature in the 2007 children's novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. Much of the story is set in and around Gare Montparnasse.

Regional lines serving this station

* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Dreux
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Mantes-la-Jolie
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Montfort l'Amaury-Méré
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Plaisir Grignon
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Rambouillet
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Sèvres Rive Gauche
* SNCF Gare Montparnasse - Versailles-Chantiers

Adjacent metro station:
* Montparnasse - Bienvenüe

Nearby station:
* Pasteur

ee also

*Transportation in France
*List of stations of the Paris RER
*List of stations of the Paris Métro
*Gare d'Austerlitz
*Gare de l'Est
*Gare de Lyon
*Gare du Nord
*Gare Saint-Lazare

References

External links

* [http://paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris14/gare_montparnasse.htm Gare Montparnasse] - current photographs and of the years 1900.

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=paris,+france&ll=48.838961,2.317986&spn=0.006011,0.020548&t=h&hl=en Satellite image from Google Maps]