Gare Montparnasse (French pronunciation: [ɡaʁ mɔ̃paʁnas]; Montparnasse station), officially Paris Montparnasse and formerly Gare de l'Ouest, is one of the seven large Paris railway termini, and is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements.
The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to a new station just south of the original location, where subsequently the prominent Tour Montparnasse was constructed. It is a central element to the Montparnasse area. The original station is noted for the Montparnasse derailment, where a steam train crashed through the station in 1895, an event captured in widely known photographs and reproduced in full scale in several locations.
The station serves intercity TGV trains to the west and southwest of France including Tours, Bordeaux, Rennes and Nantes, and suburban and regional services on the Transilien Line N routes. There is also a metro station. Gare Montparnasse is the only mainline terminus in Paris not directly connected to the RER system, though the Montparnasse main line is connected to the RER at Versailles Chantiers and the LGV Atlantique at Massy–Palaiseau.
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History
The station opened in 1840 as Gare de l'Ouest, later being renamed. A second station was built between 1848 and 1852.
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 station. (see Liberation of Paris).
During the 1960s, a newer station integrated into a complex of office buildings was built further down the track. In 1969, the old station was demolished and the Tour Montparnasse built on its site. An extension was built in 1990 to host the TGV Atlantique.
1895 derailment
The Gare Montparnasse became famous for the derailment on 22 October 1895 of the Granville–Paris Express, which overran the buffer stop. The engine careened across almost 30 metres (100 ft) of the station concourse, crashed through a 60-centimetre (2 ft) thick wall, shot across a terrace and smashed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 10 metres (33 ft) below, where it stood on its nose. Two of the 131 passengers sustained injuries, along with the fireman and two conductors. The only fatality was a woman on the street below, Marie-Augustine Aguilard, who was temporarily taking over her husband's work duty while he went out to get the newspapers. She was killed by falling masonry. The railway company later paid for her funeral and provided a pension to look after her two children. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine driver, who was trying to make up lost time. A conductor was given a 25-franc fine and the engine driver a 50-franc fine.
Replicas of the train crash are recreated outside the Mundo a Vapor ("Steam World") museum chain buildings in Canela, Brazil.
Train services
From Paris Montparnasse train services depart to major French cities such as: Le Mans, Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Brest, Saint-Malo, Vannes, Lorient, Quimper, Angers, Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Tours, Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne and Granville. The station is also served by suburban trains heading to the west and south-west of Paris.
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Lourdes – Tarbes
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Dax – Bayonne – Biarritz – Hendaye
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Agen – Toulouse
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Bordeaux – Arcachon
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours – Poitiers – Angoulême – Bordeaux
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Poitiers – La Rochelle
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Tours
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes – St Brieuc – Brest
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Vannes – Lorient – Quimper
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Rennes – St Malo
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Rennes
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Nantes – St-Nazaire – Le Croisic
High speed services (TGV) Paris – Le Mans – Angers – Nantes
Lines serving this station
Adjacent metro station:
Montparnasse – Bienvenüe
Nearby station:
Pasteur